Assessment Of The Coca-Cola Company's India Operations By The Energy and Resources Institute
There are times when a difficult situation can become an opportunity for change and growth in the lives of people and in the lives of corporations.
The TERI assessment is such an opportunity for The Coca-Cola Company. For several years, we have faced controversy around our operations in India. We agreed to an independent assessment to put those concerns to rest. In the process, our compliance with regulations and standards has been validated but we have gained greater insight and perspective that will allow us to go beyond compliance in the future, taking a broader view as we continue to better understand our role in society and evolve our business to reflect that understanding. The TERI assessment is an important part of that way forward.
Background
In late 2004, in response to the concerns of its students, The University of Michigan began conducting a review of The Coca-Cola Company's India operations. The University and The Coca-Cola Company agreed that an independent assessment would provide the information needed for the University, and that TERI, a New Delhi-based international research organization, would conduct the assessment, guided by a Steering Committee comprising eminent experts.
The University and The Coca-Cola Company also agreed that the credibility of this effort would be strengthened if a neutral mediation and facilitation organization were called upon to facilitate the interactions between The Coca-Cola Company and TERI, and to help the parties ensure that the appropriate protocols and procedures were in place that would preserve and protect TERI's and the studys independence. The parties agreed that the Meridian Institute, an internationally recognized neutral mediation organization based in the United States, would be the appropriate organization to fill that role.
While The Coca-Cola Company has its own rigorous environmental management system, we agreed to this additional assessment to provide an independent perspective.
TERI's assessment covered:
Corporate-level assessment of The Coca-Cola Company's policies, procedures, management systems, and compliance mechanisms relating to environmental protection and water resource management, and questionnaire-based secondary data collection from selected Coca-Cola facilities in India.
Plant level on-site assessment of water management at six Coca-Cola facilities in India. The on-site assessment included: primary monitoring of water balance and water quality; surveys; and interviews with key personnel from each facility, the community within the defined area (surrounding villages/panchayat/ward), and other stakeholders to address the relevant issues associated with water stewardship.
The TERI report was publicly released on January 14, 2008. The Executive Summary may be viewed here, and the full report is available at the TERI and University of Michigan websites.
The report verifies that The Coca-Cola Company and its bottlers are in compliance with Indian regulations and, on balance, with the Company's own global environmental and quality standards, which are often more stringent than local standards. The report confirms that there are no pesticides in the water used to make our products. It also confirms that The Coca-Cola Company and its Indian bottlers are on the right track with many of the operational improvements made over the last few years and provides a roadmap for further changes and improvements that we can and will make.
In response to TERI's recommendations, we are strengthening our plant siting requirements, our monitoring capabilities for both rainwater harvesting and effluent treatment and our guidelines for source protection and operating in water scarce areas. We also are expanding our efforts to work with local communities to ensure sustainability of the local water resource and have launched The Coca-Cola India Foundation for Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders in our local communities to support community initiatives.
The Coca-Cola Company has submitted a letter outlining our response to the TERI report to Mr. Tim Slottow, Executive Vice President and CFO of the University of Michigan. This letter is available here.
The University of Michigan's response to the TERI report is available here.
For background information on various aspects of The Coca-Cola Company's operations in India, please click on the links below:
