Report Highlights Progress on Comprehensive 2020 Sustainability Goals with a Focus on Women, Water and Well-being
Published 11-07-13
Submitted by Coca-Cola Company, The
The Coca-Cola Company today released its tenth annual Sustainability Report and third Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Report highlighting the progress the Coca-Cola system made in 2012 and the new 2020 sustainability goals announced earlier this year.
“At Coca-Cola, sustainability is a critical component of our business strategy. It is about improving lives, creating jobs, increasing opportunity, preserving resources and meeting needs for the communities we proudly serve around the globe,” said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company. “There are no issues that will more shape or define the 21st century than the global empowerment of women; the management of the world’s precious water resources; and the well-being of the world’s growing population.”
This is the first report to include both an update on existing sustainability goals and the Company’s new global 2020 goals. The report follows the Company’s sustainability framework—“Me, We, World”—and is rooted in three leadership priorities:
The report also updates other areas of progress. Through The Coca-Cola Foundation, the Company’s global philanthropic arm, we invested $101.6 million (1 percent of our operating income) in grants to support sustainable community initiatives in 2012. We continue applying our supply chain and logistics expertise to help deliver essential medicines to communities that need them through Project Last Mile, and 98 percent of our Company-owned facilities achieved compliance with our Workplace Rights Policy for the second consecutive year.
We have reaffirmed our long-held policy of not marketing to children. Under climate protection, we established an ambitious new goal to reduce the carbon footprint of “the drink in your hand” by 25 percent by 2020 against baseline year of 2010. On packaging, we have distributed about 14 billion fully recyclable PlantBottle™ packages across 24 countries through 2012. We also set an ambitious new goal to sustainably source key agricultural ingredients by 2020.
“The global challenges we are facing and addressing through our value chain require collaborative action across the golden triangle of business, government and civil society,” said Bea Perez, Chief Sustainability Officer at The Coca-Cola Company. “Our comprehensive 2020 goals are ambitious, but we are making tangible progress. The collective expertise of our partners motivates and enables us to do more than we could alone.”
The 2012-2013 Sustainability Report demonstrates The Coca-Cola Company’s commitment to continuous improvement, increased disclosure, risk assessment and expanded stakeholder engagement. The report is available on the Company’s website, Coca-Cola Journey, and features social and multimedia capabilities. This year, the Company has self-declared an application level of B+ per the GRI G3.1 guidelines reporting against 35 Key Performance Indicators. Ernst & Young LLP, a registered public accounting firm, provided external assurance on several sustainability indicators including water use ratio, PlantBottle™ packaging, lost-time incident rate and front-of-pack labeling.
To view The Coca-Cola Company’s 2012-2013 Sustainability Report, visit: www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainability.
About The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Led by Coca-Cola, one of the world's most valuable and recognizable brands, our Company's portfolio features 16 billion-dollar brands including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Georgia and Del Valle. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice drinks. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy our beverages at a rate of more than 1.8 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint, support active, healthy living, create a safe, inclusive work environment for our associates, and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world's top 10 private employers with more than 700,000 system associates. For more information, visit Coca-Cola Journey at www.coca-colacompany.com, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CocaColaCo, visit our blog, Coca-Cola Unbottled, at www.coca-colablog.com or find us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/the-coca-cola-company.
The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company. Along with Coca-Cola, recognized as the world's most valuable brand, the Company markets four of the world's top five nonalcoholic sparkling brands, including Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite, and a wide range of other beverages, including diet and light beverages, waters, juices and juice drinks, teas, coffees, energy and sports drinks. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company's beverages at a rate exceeding 1.4 billion servings each day. For more information about The Coca-Cola Company, please visit our website at www.thecoca-colacompany.com.
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