PepsiCo Marks World Water Day 2010 with Global Water Goals

PepsiCo has announced global goals to provide access to safe water to three million people in developing countries by 2015 and to continuously strive for positive water balance in company operations in water-distressed areas.

This new set of commitments builds on progress made by PepsiCo to promote greater water-use efficiency across its operations and to source water in ways that respect communities and ecosystems. In 2007, PepsiCo set a global goal to reduce water consumption by 20 percent per unit of production by 2015. To date, the company has achieved a more than 15 percent improvement in water use efficiency as compared to the company's 2006 baseline.

"We work hard to improve our water-use efficiency, preserve water resources and provide public access to clean water through alliances with nonprofit groups such as the Earth Institute and Water.org," said Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo's chairman and chief executive officer. "We are committed to minimizing the impact our business has on the environment, and we will continue to collaborate with our industry peers, governments, NGOs and communities to ensure we are doing more, collectively."

In addition, the PepsiCo Foundation continues to invest in sustainable water resource management methods, which positively impact both quantity and quality of water supplies, particularly in developing countries. Since 2005, The Foundation and PepsiCo have committed more than $15 million to organizations working to bring safe water to developing countries, including India, China and Africa. Together, PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation are working to provide access to safe water to one million people from the world's most drought stricken regions by year's end. This program has already impacted more than 400,000 people since its launch in 2008.

"Through our WaterCredit and microloan programs supported by PepsiCo we have directly impacted more than 90,000 lives and made nearly 7,000 WaterCredit loans. We have installed water and sanitation systems in more than 20,000 households," said Gary White, executive director and co-founder of Water.org, a nonprofit organization that has transformed hundreds of communities in Africa, South Asia and Central America by providing access to safe water and sanitation. "We are honored to have the opportunity to work with such a dedicated company. It is with support from companies like PepsiCo that we can truly make a difference in the global water crisis."