While the US company Coca-Cola remains one of the biggest polluters with its plastic bottles, it is launching a new campaign to blue-wash its reputation. The Coca-Cola Company in Africa and its bottling partners Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling Company (ECCBC) and Coca-Cola HBC announced a nearly USD 25 million investment to help address critical water-related challenges in local communities in 20 African countries, starting this year through 2030. The work will be led by Global Water Challenge (GWC) and implemented by a consortium of partners, including The Nature Conservancy (TNC), The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The effort, called ‘The Coca-Cola System’s Africa Water Stewardship Initiative’, was introduced in Cape Town, South Africa, in presence of executives from the Coca-Cola system in Africa and NGO partners.
Calculate: Some 25 million for 20 countries over 6 years… “to improve water security for millions across the African continent, helping advance community health and resilience through abundant, clean water”. Less than a drop for every citizen in these 20 countries.
At the same time, Bloomberg reports that Coca-Cola is facing suit over sustainability after appeal, as the District of Columbia Court of Appeals end of August sided with activists in a lawsuit alleging that Coca-Cola made misleading claims about its sustainability efforts. Earth Island Institute’s lawsuit against the beverage maker took issue with statements the company made including a tweet that said: “Business and sustainability are not separate stories for The Coca-Cola Company—but different facets of the same story.” The DC Court of Appeals said in its opinion that Earth Island made a “facially plausible misrepresentation claim.”
“Earth Island has plausibly alleged that Coca-Cola’s statements, when viewed in their surrounding context, mislead consumers into believing that it is an environmental steward, when it is in fact an environmental scourge. Whether Earth Island can ultimately substantiate those claims is a different question for another day.”
Sumona Majumdar, CEO of Earth Island Institute, commented:
“We are heartened by the court’s decision. We look forward to shining more light on the gulf between Coca-Cola’s environmental claims and their actual actions, which contribute significantly to plastic pollution around the world.”
Sources: Capital and WaterOnline. Bloomberg
