Water Scarcity

A quarter of the world’s population—between 2 and 3 billion people—are currently without access to safe drinking water.

In the United States alone, 2.2 million people have no water at home and 44 million Americans are served by water systems with quality issues. And the supply of available fresh water—is shrinking. Soon, there will be 40% more demand for water than global supply. This brings real risks to global health and safety. With 3.6 billion people lacking access to safely managed sanitation, diseases are more likely to spread. It hurts prosperity and opportunity as millions of people—usually women—who must travel for hours each day to get fresh water are unable to learn or earn a living. Without the needed groundwater for agriculture, people cannot grow the food they need, making mass migration more likely.

A Freshwater Nature

Water is not only essential to life, it is the nexus that links the health and wellbeing of people and communities, economic prosperity, and environmental health.

It is essential to global businesses like The Coca-Cola Company, which depends on water resources for the beverages and the communities they serve. That is why, with operations in more than 200 countries and territories, Coca-Cola has made water a priority. Starting in 2015, it became the first Fortune 500 company to replenish all water used in its global beverage production—a goal they have continued to meet each year. And, to build on that, it launched its 2030 Water Security Strategy with a goal of 100% regenerative water use in water-stressed areas by reducing, reusing, recycling, and locally replenishing the water they use. The strategy accelerates actions needed to increase water security where it operates, sources ingredients and touches lives with a focus on priority watersheds. It also aims to improve the health of 60 critical watersheds and return a cumulative 2 trillion liters of water to nature and communities between 2021 and 2030.

Impact

In 2022 alone, The Coca-Cola Company replenished 159% of the water used in their finished beverages globally and returned 291 billion liters of water to nature and communities.

In the United States, the company works with a variety of partners on water restoration projects. They have closely collaborated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) over the last decade to restore watersheds on National Forest system lands, replenishing 2.4 billion liters of water to communities and nature through 25 projects across nine states. A new agreement with the USDA will advance their goal to return a cumulative 2 trillion liters of water to nature and communities globally between 2021 and 2030.

In Bursa, Turkey, The Coca-Cola system is taking action to improve water-use efficiency and watershed health across its operations while supporting local farmers and communities. A local watershed stewardship plan is driving water efficiency improvements in its Içecek bottling plant and with support from The Coca-Cola Foundation, helping local fruit farmers adopt effective irrigation practices and improve water quality.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, 25% of the population lack access to safely managed drinking water services. Climate change, urbanization, accelerated water usage, and inadequate infrastructure are among the leading causes. In response to this, Coca-Cola Latin America, in alliance with the Global Environment Technology Foundation and local civil society organizations, designed and launched a platform called Aliados por el Agua (Aliados) to help improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene across 18 countries by 2030. In 2022, the program implemented more than 30 projects across 12 countries, in partnership with 26 civil society organizations, as well as local municipalities, utility providers and communities, and funding from the foundation.