In line with Coca-Cola’s global commitment of “Building sustainable communities as foundations for sustainable businesses”, Coca-Cola in Bangladesh has launched the Sustainability Highlights Report 2020.
This report is the company’s maiden sustainability performance disclosure, highlighting the impact the company has created in the community along with the key sustainability initiatives across the value chain.
Ta Duy Tung, Managing Director of Coca-Cola Bangladesh said, “Our purpose has always been to refresh the world and make a difference. Our sustainability goals are in line with United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs]. We are delighted to be a part of the country’s journey of success through such projects and being able to make a difference in the community. It’s an honor for us to share our progress with everyone.”
The Coca-Cola System in Bangladesh, with its two bottling partners- International Beverages Private Limited (IBPL) & Abdul Monem Limited (AML), has worked on several sustainability projects in the last year including Covid-19 Response, women empowerment, world without waste efforts, water initiatives & sustainable agricultural water management among other projects.
Regarding the system initiatives, Tapas Kumar Mondal, Managing Director, International Beverages Private Limited said the first ever Sustainability Highlights report for the Coca-Cola system in Bangladesh is a major step of our Sustainability journey and an update of the system’s commitment to our country and stakeholders.
“Our ESG priorities are supportive of a ‘Clean and Green Bangladesh’ and through our initiatives we pledge our support to climate resilience that will help Bangladesh achieve its SDGs.”
Key Highlights from The Report:
Covid-19 Response: With support from The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF) Atlanta, the company pledged BDT 11.5 crores towards Covid-19 relief measures.
This resulted in positively impacting 50 lakh lives in Bangladesh, with key target being the vulnerable and marginalized communities
Women Empowerment: Women Business Centers [WBC], is Coca-Cola Bangladesh’s flagship program in Bangladesh where the goal is to empower women financially, having empowered 100,000 women in the country by 2020.
Around 100,000 women are directly being empowered with another 400,000 being impacted indirectly.
Water Initiatives: Coca-Cola Bangladesh teamed up with Water Aid on WASH initiatives which resulted hygiene campaigns, sanitation & hand washing facilities for school students in the high salinity area.
The Coca-Cola Foundation teamed up with Water Resources Group [WRG] to jointly develop the IWET project with the specific overarching goal of “introducing Water-Efficient Technologies” in Barind Tract working with 10,000 farmers to shift to high value, low water intensive crops- particularly rice and mango.
World Without Waste: For the last 10 years, as part of global commitment to create a “World Without Waste”, Coca-Cola in Bangladesh has been the proud partner of International Coastal Cleanup.
Through this partnership, more than 4500 people have volunteered and collected over 12000 kilograms of marine debris in the last decade.
A S M Mohiuddin Monem, Additional Managing Director, Abdul Monem Limited said their sustainability efforts continue to focus on the areas of waste management, water stewardship, women empowerment and efficient and sustainable operations.
Source: United News of Bangladesh