Statement by Gigi Kellett, Think Outside the Bottle

CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY INTERNATIONAL
ANNUAL SHAREHOLDERS’ MEETING OF COCA-COLA, DULUTH, GA — APRIL 22, 2009

Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. My name is Gigi Kellett, and I am representing Corporate Accountability International’s Think Outside the Bottle campaign. I am speaking on behalf of the tens of thousands of people who have taken action over the past year to support public water systems and to address the social and environmental implications of bottling water.

Mr. Kent, in Coke’s proxy statement, one of the stated risks for the corporation is that water scarcity and poor quality could negatively impact production costs and capacity. You note that water is the main ingredient in most of your products, and that it is a limited resource in many areas. You also have laid out a plan for aggressive expansion, and have made clear that certain markets across the Global South are key to growth – many of the same parts of the world most threatened by current and future water scarcity.

At the same time, Coke has drawn attention to efforts to reduce its water footprint, and even claims to be moving toward becoming “water neutral.” This simply does not add up.

“Water neutrality” is a murky concept that promises to become yet another Madoffian Ponzi scheme. And in the balance, in the unlikely event Coke could return as much water to communities as it withdraws, what gives this transnational license to run some communities dry to hydrate others – is this not, in effect, robbing Peter to pay Paul?

Just ask communities across India that are calling on you to respect their right to water, life and livelihood over your profits. People around the world have echoed the call of communities across India that are demanding you close specific bottling plants and compensate people for the damage you have done. And the pressure is building.

Coke should know better than trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the public. Just last month in a presentation at a Corporate Conference of the Council on Foreign Relations, former CEO and outgoing Chair Neville Isdell cited public opinion surveys finding that attitudes toward big business are at an all-time low. In Mr. Isdell’s call to action, he suggested that corporations not shun the limelight, but speak out proactively and offer their own agenda.

Mr. Kent, we are here today on Earth Day to remind you that people are not looking for more hollow words, Ponzi schemes, or greenwashing tactics. In fact, those tactics fuel the public anger over big business that Mr. Isdell spoke about. People are looking for real action to address their concerns. It’s time for Coke to stop focusing on reframing the debate, and actually change course.

Here’s one of many concrete examples where Coke’s actions diverge sharply from the image you try to create: This year, for the second year in a row, you challenged a shareholder resolution with the SEC on technical grounds that would have encouraged the corporation to provide better  information to consumers on the quality and testing of your Dasani bottled water and other products.

This doesn’t exactly help project the image of a corporation that is concerned about being a standard bearer when it comes to water quality reporting. Coke claims all the information people need is on the website and says it provides a Dasani water quality report and information about its filtration process.  However, this information is inadequate.  The water quality report is undated and is merely a sample report.  Given that Coca-Cola produces Dasani bottled water from dozens of plants in the U.S. and draws water from many different public water systems, a ‘sample’ report isn’t useful.  

Mr. Kent, my question to you is: What does Coke have to hide?