CCEP & Coca-Cola signed the Catchment Management Declaration to transform water management in the UK

Water is the main ingredient in our products and is one of the world’s most precious resources. It’s essential to our manufacturing processes and critical to ensuring a sustainable supply of the agricultural ingredients we rely on.

While we want to do all that we can to protect the water sources we use in our operations, we realise that our actions as a single organisation are not enough on their own to resolve the widespread issues and pressures facing water management – such as over-exploitation of water, climate change, and poor water management. To truly make a difference, we need cross-industry collaboration and collective action.

That’s why we recently signed the Catchment Management Declaration to work with other businesses, UK government stakeholders and NGOs to improve the management of water as a shared resource and safeguard it for future generations.

The Catchment Management Declaration is a commitment to support the ambition outlined in the UK Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan to deliver a well-managed water catchment programme where water is collected by the natural landscape.

Effective water catchment management creates a more efficient water supply where people and organisations – such as farmers, energy producers, land owners and water companies -  act in a way that protects this precious resource. It ensures sustainable use of the water cycle, protecting water quality, the environment and sustainable agriculture.

We’re already taking a proactive approach to sustainable water sources a part of our This is Forward sustainability action plan. We aim to reduce the water we use in our manufacturing operations by 20% by 2025 and address water impacts in our supply chain. We’ve also committed to replenishing 100% of the water we use in areas of water stress.

The launch of our Stakeholder Progress Report last month showed that we are already making progress against these goals. We’ve reduced the amount of water we use to make one litre of product by 11.78% since 2010, and in 2017, we replenished 110% of the water we used in our drinks, where it was sourced from areas of water stress.

We can always do more. That’s why we’re proud to have signed the Declaration and look forward to working with other key stakeholders and organisations to deliver a real step change in sustainable water management so this precious resource can be enjoyed for many generations to come.

You can find out more about the Catchment Management Declaration here: https://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/publications/natural-resource-security-publications/catchment-management-the-declaration