Good morning.  My name is Sudha Nandagopal and I'm an organizer with Corporate Accountability International. As you know, Corporate Accountability International is a membership organization that protects people by waging and winning campaigns challenging irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions around the world. For over 25 years, we've forced corporations--like Nestlé, General Electric and Philip Morris/Altria--to stop abusive actions.

Today, over one billion people don't have safe water to drink and if current trends are not reversed, in less than 20 years, two-thirds of the world's population will not have access to enough water.

In response to the emerging global water crisis, the goals of our members are to secure the human right to water, to prevent corporations from interfering in people's right and access to water, and to protect democratic control over water.  

Despite the claim in the "Manifesto for Growth" that Coke believes in preserving and protecting water resources, your corporation is a leader in an industry that aims to turn water into a profit-driven commodity, like oil. For example:

• Coke is draining massive amounts of water from a number of Indian communities, contributing to severe water shortages and health problems.
• Here in the U.S., as was featured last week on NBC's Today Show, Coke is spending tens of millions of dollars each year to convince us that its bottled water brand, Dasani, is better than tap water, even though it takes this water right from our municipal tap systems.
• As Coke is profiting off of our water, it is competing with tap water and paving the way for corporate privatization of our public water systems.
• Coke is threatening local control of water supplies and made a visible move to increase its influence on global water policies. In March, Coke sponsored the Fourth World Water Forum, a private international gathering where corporations met with officials from the United Nations, World Bank and governments to try to shape water policies around the world. Coke also joined the U.N.'s Global Compact, a voluntary initiative that allows corporations to proclaim themselves responsible without demonstrating positive changes.

Supplying water is already a $400 billion a year business, 30% larger than the pharmaceutical industry. Even though bottled water accounts for a fraction of the total volume of water used for consumption, sanitation and manufacturing, people spent $100 billion on bottled water in 2005. Our "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign is a direct challenge to the increasing corporate control of water. 

Thousands of people across the country and around the world are joining this campaign, challenging Coke's growing threat to the fundamental human right to water.  As a result, your corporate image is losing value in the eyes of consumers and investors. The growing opposition will only continue to grow and negatively impact your brands. 

Coke's shareholders and the financial community are watching closely. Mr. Isdell, how do you plan to address this growing pressure demanding an end to your corporation's irresponsible and dangerous actions?

My name is Sr. Nancy MacDermott and I am a Sister of Notre Dame from the Chardon province in Ohio. My question pertains to the Board of Directors.

On September 12, 2005, the Sisters of Notre Dame adopted a living corporate stance of "Water for Life" in recognition that water is a basic right for life. I am a member of the Environmental Justice Committee that is using the United Nations millennium goals for global sustainability to promote awareness of the water crisis facing our world today.

As Sisters of Notre Dame, we revere water as a sacred gift. We work to protect the waters entrusted to us and we act to ensure that this right to water be extended to all, especially the poor in areas where our Sisters serve. To attain this goal, we employ and teach principles of sustainability at every level of water use.

Coca-Cola has chosen a different path. Today, over one billion people around the world do not have access to safe water to drink. Yet, instead of respecting water as a fundamental human right, your leadership promotes it as a commodity to be bought and sold. Furthermore, you allow the very production of your beverages to sometimes harm the communities from which Coke draws its water supply, as in the case of India where we have a large community of Indian Sisters serving in Kerala. It was from them that we first learned of the distress caused to poor people by the actions of Coca-Cola and its excessive use of ground water.

There is a growing international movement to highlight Coke's misleading promotion of bottled water and its interference in public policymaking. In our province alone, we have collected over 700 signed postcards calling on Coke to change its ways. I have with me a small sampling of these and request that you join me after the meeting for a larger delivery of thousands of postcards generated from concerned congregations, community activists and student groups over the last several months.

As you will see, we are only one of many, many communities of faith moved to call on Coca-Cola to stop its abuses. We shall continue to share information with other congregations so that they, too, may pressure you to make better decisions. Already, we have sent a legislative alert to all Sisters of Notre Dame, detailing the problem. These points include the fact that bottled water is up to 10,000 times more expensive than tap water, and that expanding the bottled water market paves the way for higher prices and corporate control of water resources. Decisions about a life-giving substance and a fundamental human right must not be left to corporations like Coca-Cola.

Water for Life is a commitment that the Sisters of Notre Dame have made, transforming our prayer, our planning and our personal and communal actions over the next ten years. On behalf of religious across the United States and around the world who recognize the dangerous reality behind the images of Coke's advertising, I ask you, Mr. Isdell, when will the Coca-Cola Board of Directors step up to the plate in India--and elsewhere--to run a business of high moral standing?

Good morning. My name is Anil Venkatesh and I am a student at the University of Pennsylvania where I have been working this semester with Corporate Accountability International's "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign--exposing the dangerous reality behind the image of bottled water.

I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak with you today on behalf of the thousands of students and community members across the U.S. who have been involved in the campaign this year.

I got involved in this campaign because I am very concerned about the growing trend by corporations to turn water into a profit-driven commodity, like oil. Water is not a luxury; water is a fundamental human right.

Bottled water is the most visible example of the increasing corporate control of our water. It provides us with a clear and troubling snapshot of the attempted corporate conquest of this precious resource.

It is very disturbing to see bottled water corporations attempting to brand the water we drink and turn it into a status symbol.

Bottled water corporations like Coke have spent tens of millions of dollars over the past 10 years to promote brands like Dasani as pure, safe, clean, healthy, and superior to tap water. The reality is that bottled water threatens our health and our ecosystems, costs thousands of times what tap water costs, and undermines local democratic control over a common resource.
 
I am part of a growing student movement across the U.S. challenging privatization of water in its many forms. Through my work and that of many others, recently, thousands of people have taken action to challenge the corporate control of water. Here are just a few examples:

• Over a thousand people have participated in Tap Water Challenges in cities across the U.S., exposing the reality behind bottled water brands, like Coke's Dasani.
• In case after case, including at the Tap Water Challenge happening outside right now, people can't tell the difference between tap water and leading bottled water brands--not surprising when you consider that brands like Dasani use municipal tap water for their source.
• Coverage of Tap Water Challenges in media outlets across the country, including--the Today Show, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Daily Texan, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, has become a direct challenge to your marketing muscle.

Mr. Isdell, your corporation's image is becoming increasingly tarnished among college students--a key market for bottled water. How are the effects of this potential long-term damage accounted for and reflected in your financial statements?

STATEMENT BY KIRANKUMAR VISSA AND BRUNDA KATTEKOLA
ANNUAL SHAREHOLDERS' MEETING OF COCA-COLA,
WILMINGTON, DE--APRIL 19, 2006

Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to speak in support of this shareholder resolution.

Recently, Coca-Cola launched a marketing campaign with the slogan "Make Every Drop Count" in an attempt to improve its image. As public resistance and concern over the corporation's practices have grown, Coke has gone to great lengths to portray itself as a steward of the world's water resources. We find this response both ironic and unacceptable.

The truth is, Mr. Isdell, is that people around the world are demanding changes in practice, and will not be satisfied with public relations campaigns.

In communities across India, Coke is wreaking havoc on people's lives. Siphoning massive amounts of water from poor communities is one of many abuses.

Coke claims to be integral to and interested in the communities in which it operates in India. The reality is that Coke shows little regard for the well-being of the people around its bottling plants in places like Plachimada and Mehdiganj.

Outside Coke's plant in Plachimada, Kerala, wells have dried up and water quality has declined. The Nation magazine reports local people getting rashes from affected water supplies. Local authorities shut the Plachimada plant down. The struggle against Coke in Plachimada just marked its fourth anniversary. Coke has used its political power to get concessions from the Kerala High Court. The community appealed to India's High Court, and communities across India and around the world anxiously await the ruling.

Since Coke opened its plant in Mehdiganj, Uttar Pradesh, people have experienced a dramatic drop in the water tables and a decline in water quality. Due to a range of irresponsible and dangerous practices, the local community is reeling under the exploitative practices of Coca Cola in Mehdiganj. It is tired of paying for the costs of production that the company continues to externalize to the local community while it rakes in crores. It is asking the company to leave.

Mr. Isdell, Coke is spending large amounts of money and time on public relations to improve its image. You claim that people in Indian communities are with you, but it's not true. In Plachimada, the vigil continues in earnest. In Mehdiganj, the protest is growing. The courage of people in communities like Mehdiganj and Plachimada is inspiring solidarity around the world.

Religious leaders, students and concerned people across the U.S. are joining this movement. And together we are asking--when will you once and for all leave Mehdiganj, Plachimada, and other communities demanding your departure? And when will you compensate communities for the damage you've done?

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