Water is essential to the beverage industry where it is a vital natural resource used in operations and products. It is also a shared resource — important to the health of the communities and ecosystems that depend on it.

In recent years, watersheds have become notably strained due to severe droughts, wildfires, and extreme weather patterns. According to the UN Global Compact CEO Water Mandate ("the Mandate"), a 56 percent shortfall in freshwater supply is expected over the next decade, threatening the environment, communities, businesses, and the global economy.

As a beverage company, Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) has the unique opportunity to develop and implement leading solutions to local and global water challenges, ultimately building climate resilience. In celebration of World Water Day, KDP is announcing its aspiration for net positive water impact by 2050 and joining the Water Resilience Coalition (WRC).

WRC is an industry-driven coalition of the Mandate that aims to elevate global water stress to the top of the corporate agenda and preserve the world’s freshwater resources through collective action and ambitious, quantifiable commitments. In joining the WRC, KDP expands upon its already existing membership in the Mandate and unites with other like-minded and action-oriented companies from across the globe to address the world water crisis.

"Our aspiration for net positive water impact by 2050 reflects our long-term commitment to leadership and collective action to safeguard water as a critical natural resource," said Monique Oxender, chief sustainability officer at Keurig Dr Pepper. "This ambition further builds on our existing water commitments across all levels of our value chain."

Within the company’s operations, KDP has committed to 20 percent improvement in water efficiency by 2025. And, in high-risk water communities where it operates, the company enlists partners to support its commitment to replenish at least 100 percent of the water used for its beverages produced at those sites. In fact, as a result of a recent water risk assessment, KDP has expanded the number of communities in scope for its goal, and therefore has extended the time horizon of the goal to 2030.

Read the full article about global water stress by Monique Oxender at GreenBiz.