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Resolution: Water Shareholder Proposal 2007
2007 Shareholder Resolution approved by the Advisory Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility (ACCSR)
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Resolution:
Water Shareholder Proposal 2007
WHEREAS, the 2004 Environmental Report published by The Coca Cola Company states, "Water is essential for life, and water scarcity is fast becoming one of the world's most pressing global challenges.";
WHEREAS, the Coca-Cola company is a major user of water globally, using 283 billion liters of water in 2004 alone;
WHEREAS, a Joint Parliamentary Committee appointed by the Indian government found that the water levels in many parts of the country are getting depleted alarmingly;
WHEREAS, there have been numerous public protests of The Coca-Cola Company's operations throughout India, involving thousands of Indian citizens and several non-governmental organizations in several states of the country;
WHEREAS, the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Plachimada has been shut down since March 2004 for allegedly exploiting the groundwater, leading to shortage of water for drinking and irrigation purposes, and the plant has been the subject of rulings unfavorable to the company's ongoing operations by local government and Indian courts. These include a rejection of Coca-Cola's license application by the council of village leaders, an order by the Kerala Pollution Control Board to stop operations, and an appeal by the Kerala state government to the Indian Supreme Court challenging Coca-Cola's right to draw groundwater.
WHEREAS, other Coca-Cola plants, including Mehdiganj and Kala Dera, are facing similar pressure from local communities;
WHEREAS, shareholders believe there is a need to study, report and act on the impact on our company's value from decisions to do business in sensitive areas of water scarcity;
RESOLVED, shareholders request that the independent directors of the Board of ____ company commission - at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information – a study that would lead to a report on the potential environmental and public health damage of each of its plants, affiliates and proposed ventures extracting water from areas of water scarcity in India. The report should consider the implications of a policy of refraining from extracting ground and surface water in India and should be available to investors by the 2008 annual meeting. The study and the report should be commissioned to an independent, third party organization which has no past or present relationship with the ____ company or the campaign against the ____ company.
Supporting Statement
We welcome our company's interest in water conservation and
management, and as shareholders we believe, in addition to
recognizing the issue, there is a need to study and disclose
the impact on our company's value from decisions to do
business in areas where the water supply is at risk. This
would allow shareholders to assess the risks created by the
company's activity in these areas as well as the company's
strategy for managing these risks.
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