politics for the 99%

Published on Global Research.ca (first on The Ecologist), by Amit Srivastava, Dec 31, 2015: never mind the Greenwash – Coca Cola can never be Water Neutral.

… The Coca-Cola company is planning to announce that it is close to replenishing all the water it uses“back to communities and nature” by the end of 2015, well ahead of schedule.

As campaigners that have closely scrutinized Coca-Cola’s operations in India for over a decade, we find the company’s assertions on balancing water use to be misleading.

The company’s track record of managing water resources in and around its bottling operations is dismal, and the announcement is a public relations exercise designed to manufacture an image of a company that uses water sustainably – far removed from the reality on the ground … //

… The myth of ‘water neutrality: … //

… No more pumping of depleted aquifers:

One of the continuing challenges being faced by communities across India is that the Coca-Cola company has continued to operate its bottling plants in severely water-stressed areas, as well as propose new plants in water-stressed areas where the communities have very limited access to potable water – a fundamental human right.

Any company that wants to establish itself as a responsible user of water would begin by not operating in water stressed areas, a demand that has been made of Coca-Cola but which the company seems to ignore because it will deprive it of profits and access to markets.

Coca-Cola is in the habit of making tall claims and generating false opinions favorable to its own cause, whether it is on water use or public health, and this announcement on water replenishment is just that. Just last week, the company was exposed for setting up a front group, Global Energy Balance Network, to confuse the science around obesity.

Attempting to confuse and mislead regulators and scientific opinion is not new to Coca-Cola. In 2006, one of Coca-Cola’s lobbyists in India admitted that his job “was to ensure, among other things, that every government or private study accusing the company of environmental harm was challenged by another study.”

If Coca-Cola truly wishes to rebuild its reputation in India and mitigate the massive environmental damage caused by its operations, it must stop the greenwashing, stop exploiting depleted aquifers, and engage seriously with its critics and impacted communities.

(full text).

(Amit Srivastava is director of India Resource Center, an international campaigning organization. He is also the Director of Global Resistance.org.co.uk).

Links:

Bolivia’s coming ‘lithium boom’: economic miracle or environmental nightmare? on Ecologist, by Rafael Sagárnaga López, Jan 1, 2016;

Black Lives Matter holds end-of-year protest in Washington (VIDEO), on RT, Jan 1, 2015;

RT’s special report on 2015: Rise of ISIS, Russia not so isolated, EU migrant crisis [4 VIDEOS], on RT, Jan 1, 2016;

Bolivia’s coming ‘lithium boom’: economic miracle or environmental nightmare? on Ecologist, by Rafael Sagárnaga López, Jan 1, 2016;

Russlands Militär-Technologie …, 14.41 min, uploaded by 7777Funki, Dec 13, 2015 … wenn Russland diese Art von Technologie schon der Weltöffentlichkeit präsentiert, dann mag man sich gar nicht ausmalen, wozu sie wirklich schon im Stande sind. Sie legen mit einem Flugzeug ein ganzes Kriegsschiff plus Begleiter lahm ohne auch nur einen Soldaten zu töten;

Rothschild s’offre Marine Le Pen et son Front National, 7.03 min, mise en ligne par André Sistant le 30 août 2015 … Marine Le Pen, présidente du Front National, invitée le 21 avril 2015 au Gala de Time à New-York, et désignée comme l’une des 100 personnalités les plus influentes de l’année 2015. Mais qui en décide? Comme l’explique avec talent cet inspecteur des finances qui n’a pas la langue de bois, petit tour dans les coulisses de la synarchie et tireurs de ficelles mondiaux …;

Le Contrôle de l’argent Rothschild Rockefeller, 45.59 min, mise en ligne par L’AXE DU BIEN, le 10 sept 2014 … Reportage Complet Français;

Eric Zemmour, l’homme qui ne s’aimait pas, 21.15 min, mise en ligne par Ina Talk Shows, le 18 juin 2014 … Archive INA;

Pierrette Le Pen: Révélations sur Jean-Marie Le Pen, 13.26 min, mise en ligne par Ina Talk Shows, le 6 mai 2014 … Archive INA;

SciTech – Our World Tomorrow (Arabic: سايتك عالمنا غداً) is the title of two separate but related German-Arabic science television series, one airing on the ONTV (Egypt) television network, the other airing on Oman TV;
(SciTech as Magazine: the TV magazine (in english) for science, technology and the environment; same in arabic);

… and this:

• The Very Best of Rod Stewart 2001, 74.00 min, uploaded by sunflower0074, March 15, 2014.