Eco-friendly employer Diageo supports World Water Week

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Diageo is passionate about the importance of water - a crucial resource for its communities, in its production, and for its business.

The company actively supports World Water Week via a range of activity.

A sustainable business of the future

"Our pioneering approach to water underpins our climate resilience, the health of our communities, and it helps to address gender inequalities. That’s why we take a holistic approach to managing our water, and we understand that we must address our water use and water management at all the touchpoints along our supply chain to be a sustainable business for the future," said Diageo.

For World Water Week, Diageo celebrated a few highlights of its water work throughout its last financial year (July 2022-July 2023), as it continues its journey to achieving its 2030 Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) goals.

Diageo completed 35 community water projects in 11 countries, which included wetland restoration, rainwater harvesting and tree planting across Africa, India, Brazil, Turkey, Mexico and Indonesia. This included investing in 17 water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) projects in seven countries, bringing safe water and sanitation to over 70,000 people.

The company completed its first WASH project in Mexico, achieving its 2030 target to implement WASH programs in the nine markets where it operates. But it's not stopping there. It will continue to invest in WASH programs around the world, so it can continue to reach more communities in the areas its operates.

"We’ve also expanded our WASH work. We believe that when you invest in water, you empower women. So, in each community where we run a WASH project, we’ve set up a committee with equal representation from men and women. This includes facilitating community dialogue on gender awareness training. This year 56 per cent of WASH committee members were women across our programs in nine countries," explained Diageo.

Undertaking credible and verifiable actions

Diageo’s distillery in Alwar, Rajasthan in India became the first spirit distillery in Asia to receive the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Certification. The AWS standard is a sustainability framework that recognizes the credible and verifiable actions companies are taking to protect water resources.

"We maintained our CDP A rating in both water and carbon. This is our 7th year in a row and has placed us among the top percentile of companies," said Diageo. "We’ll be continuing throughout the next financial year to use our voice for good and to establish partnerships for knowledge sharing, project implementation and collective action to address the water crisis."

Diageo attended World Water Week in Stockholm, where it spoke at events including: the importance of gender equality in WASH programs, the power of innovation for water security and water’s contribution to regenerative agriculture.

The company will also be at the United Nations General Assembly and COP28, because it "knows it’s the power of collective action that brings change."

A powerful tool for addressing environmental issues

World Water Week is focused on innovation at a time of unprecedented challenges. The 2023 theme, Seeds of Change: Innovative Solutions for a Water-Wise World, invites a rethink of how water is managed, and urges consideration of the ideas, innovations, and governance systems that are needed in an increasingly unstable and water scarce world. Organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), World Water Week draws on the latest scientific knowledge and experiences from around the world to explore how water can be a powerful tool for addressing the water crisis, global warming, biodiversity loss, and poverty.