The health of The Coca-Cola Company depends on the vitality of the communities where we operate. As a global business, we live and work in more than 200 countries, but it is local communities that often experience the most meaningful impact of our operations. Through jobs in our own business and those connected to our more than 300 bottling partners, we support socioeconomic development in established, developing and emerging markets.
Together with The Coca-Cola Foundation, our bottling partners contributed almost $70 million to communities in 2006. Much of our work through the Foundation is carried out in partnership with local organizations with deep roots in the communities where we operate. All of our engagements are guided by our strategic vision for serving and supporting sustainable communities, articulated in our global plan for Corporate Social Responsibility. Our newly created Community Engagement Framework is directing our involvement in communities to ensure that we make a measurable difference in addressing local needs.This vision has directed our recent initiatives to focus on:
Water Stewardship (Conservation/Clean Water/Sanitation);
Fitness and Active Lifestyles (Physical Fitness/Nutrition Education);
Sustainable Packaging (Community Recycling/Research & Innovation); and
Education (through the Foundation’s two Signature Programs: The Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program and The Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarship Program).
Coca-Cola India
In India, our commitment to communities is driven by our support for numerous education, health and environmental initiatives. These include learning centers for nearly 2,000 primary school children in areas near our bottling plants and educational scholarships for students of all ages. Our bottlers also have adopted 16 schools in villages in Wada, Maharashtra and have provided books, stationery and health facilities as well as building repairs for the KPB School in Jamshedpur.
To promote health, we leverage the abilities of a variety of stakeholders, numerous partnerships provide medical services to people who cannot afford to visit hospitals or other medical facilities. Local government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) help identify areas of need, while NGO specialists in health and community services are responsible for implementation. We also support health camps that offer health checkups and medicine and health education, Hepatitis B vaccinations, vision treatments and malaria prevention efforts, as well as a national 24-hour emergency helpline for children in need of care and protection.
Addressing the Water Challenge
Some of our most significant efforts in India focus on environmental protection, particularly for water resources. More than one in six people on Earth live in India, yet the nation lays claim to less than four percent of the world’s freshwater resources. As a company that depends on clean water, and as a leader in community development, we are determined to protect and improve India’s water resources for generations to come.
Our water stewardship practices in India allow us to address water challenges from all angles, beginning with our own operations.
Over last 8 years (1999 – 2006), Coca-Cola India has reduced water consumption by 35%.
We also have implemented rooftop rainwater harvesting projects at all of our India bottling plants, which will recharge millions of gallons of water annually at each location.
We are working in India to reach zero water balance by 2009 with respect to groundwater usage – that is, on a net basis we will cause as much water to be recharged into groundwater aquifers as we extract from them. With this 2009 goal, India will be leading our global operations in meeting this leadership commitment.
We also engage in a number of activities to protect and improve water resources beyond our facilities. We have been increasingly active on water-related CSR initiatives in India, built upon India Division’s new water resources management plan.
Working with India’s Central Groundwater Authority (CGWA), we are engaging with local governments and communities to help combat water scarcity and restore groundwater tables through rainwater harvesting and other measures.
With UN Habitat, we have developed a partnership on water conservation which sponsors rainwater harvesting at 15 schools and provides safe drinking water at 150 schools in India and water and sanitation in 5 communities in Nepal.
Through our partnership with Rotary International, we have provided drinking water solutions to nearly 30,000 students at 100 schools, and with additional partners, we are expanding the program to 1,000 schools.
We also have helped restore community reservoirs known as bawaris, which had fallen into disrepair. The restored bawaris provide fresh water to thousands of families in surrounding communities and serve as the focal point for water conservation education campaigns.
In the State of Andrha Padesh, we have worked to reconstruct a dam and reclaim a water storage area. The new reservoir will provide a new source of drinking water and will hold enough water to irrigate 1,000 acres of cropland.
Through a partnership with International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT), we are working in two watersheds where farmers received training and support for reducing water use through agricultural practices, and check dams were built to conserve water.
Through our sponsorship of the Thumbs Up Rural Games for farmers, we have partnered with various state ministries to provide education on sustainable farming and healthy active lifestyles.
For four consecutive years, the Government of Delhi has honored Coca-Cola India with special recognition for the Company’s active participation in the State Government’s Bhagidari program to implement rainwater harvesting and solid waste management initiatives in various parts of Delhi.
For four consecutive years from 2008 – 2011, The Coca-Cola Company will support 10 watershed studies across India to provide much-needed information to guide water stewardship efforts.
We recently established the Coca-Cola India Foundation to provide additional resources and leadership to all community development initiatives, those related to water, the environment, healthy living and social well-being for all Indians. Managing water sustainability will require the involvement of all water users in a given area, which is part of the reason that we have created this Foundation, with initial funding of $10 million. Its advisory board includes educators, environmentalists, social activists and public health officials renowned in India and around the world.
