In 2007, facing growing opposition to its
water management practices, particularly in India, Coca-Cola’s CEO,
Neville Isdell came up with a brilliant idea. The Coca-Cola company, he
announced, will become water neutral, replenishing every drop of water
they use, and therefore, as the suggestion went, Coca-Cola would have
no impact of water resources around the world.

Voila! Problem solved, a company using 300
billion liters of water annually would have no impact on water
resources. Sustainability doesn’t get any better than that. The only
problem was that Coca-Cola knew that water neutrality was impossible to
achieve.

In a concept paper on water neutrality
that Coca-Cola developed with others, it clearly stated that, “In a
strict sense, the term ‘water neutral’ is troublesome and even may be
misleading. It is often possible to reduce a water footprint, but it is
generally impossible to bring it down to zero.”

But minor details such as “misleading,”
“troublesome” and “impossible” did not stop Coca-Cola from using the
term liberally and widely. And in India, where they have faced the most
intense opposition (two bottling plants have been shut down), Coca-Cola
went on a fast track, announcing that they will become water neutral by
the end of 2009. It took a challenge by the India Resource Center and our allies
during in December 2008 to get Coca-Cola to change its tune and to
admit two months later that water neutrality is controversial and they
will not use it.

“Please note that the
terminology “water offset,” like “water neutrality” is controversial
… Until a better terminology is identified and accepted by the
broader water community, we are using the term offset.” — From
Coca-Cola’s “Achieving Water Balance through Community Partnership,”
February 2009.

But the marketing appeal of a concept like
water neutrality, however impossible it may be to achieve, is simply to
great for a publicity driven Coca-Cola to pass by. Sharing the opening
plenary of the Clinton Global Initiative with Barack Obama, Bill
Clinton and Walmart two days ago, Muhtar Kent, Coca-Cola’s new CEO,
blurted out that Coca-Cola will become water neutral by 2020.

Wait a minute. Is there something new from
the “broader water community” since February this year that has enabled
water neutrality to be possible and not controversial? No, there isn’t,
and trust me, we would know if there was because we keep a close watch
on Coca-Cola and its shenanigans. Muhtar Kent’s blurt is truly
indicative of how Coca-Cola has approached its “water stewardship”
initiatives.