Address at the Formal Inauguration of the Water: H2O = Life Exhibit

Muhtar Kent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company
Istanbul Technical University, Natural History Museum
March 18, 2009

His Excellency, The President of Turkey, Mr. Abdullah Gül... Honorable Minister Mr. Veysel Eroglu (Environment)... Honorable Minister Mr. Mehdi Eker (Agriculture)... Honorable Mayor of Istanbul, Dr. Kadir Topbas... Honorable Rector Professor Muhammed Sahin... Honorable President of the World Water Council, Mr. Loic Fauchon... Distinguished guests ... Ladies and Gentlemen ...
 
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the formal opening of the Water: H2O = Life exhibit of the American Natural History Museum here in Istanbul. Since we have such a broad international audience with us here today, I am going to speak in English and upon completion I will briefly recap in Turkish.

The timing and significance of this important exhibit cannot be over-stated. As the 5th World Water Forum gathers this week in this great city, it does so with the hopes of raising awareness of the crisis we face on our water-stressed planet.  We are truly at a defining moment.  Our world economy... our environment ... and, of course, our lives are sustained by water.

Earlier this year, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion on water with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Much of the discussion centered on the future of the sustainability movement  in wake of the global financial crisis. There was a lingering fear that many important issues like water-scarcity would fall off the radar screen as the world turned its attention to the economy. 

I expressed the need for all of us to refocus the debate... because, truthfully, there really is no debate. Discussions about rekindling the world's economy are futile without an equally vigorous focus on preserving and enhancing our water resources. They are truly one in the same.  Indeed, economy and ecology share the same house.  They come from the same ancient Greek word eco.

Today, more than 100 countries, with over half the world's population, are facing water shortages.  By 2020, unless we find solutions, as much as 80 percent of the world's projected 8 billion people will live in water-stressed areas.

We can't sit back and watch the water of the world continue to drain into a non-returnable abyss. To quote one of my favorite publications, National Geographic – "All the water that ever will be, is right now."

Water, of course, is essential to the future viability of The Coca-Cola Company and our system of bottling partners around the world.  We have initiated a number of water-saving measures across our system, and as a result we have improved our water-use efficiency by 20 percent since since 2002.  We have targeted an additional 20 percent improvement in water-use efficiency by 2012.

We're proof that you can grow your business and improve your water efficiency at the same time.  If a water-intensive business such as Coca-Cola's can achieve these kinds of results, I am confident that other businesses can find equally workable and beneficial models. Together -- working hand-in-hand with business, government and civil society -- we, all of us, can have a huge and indeed transformational impact on our water resources.

We've seen this impact first-hand and it is the reason we became a member of the United Nations Global Compact CEO Water Mandate. It is the reason we entered in a major partnership with the World Wildlife Fund to help protect the Danube, Mekong and Yangtze rivers and other major watersheds around the world. It is the reason why we are involved with government and non-government organizations in over 210 community water-harvesting and protection projects in nearly 60 nations today. And it is the reason just this week we committed to a $30 million dollar project with USAID to help provide access to clean water for at least two million residents across Africa.   

We believe these are the kinds of action-driven, results-oriented, awareness-raising programs that create real change around the world. It is in this spirit of awareness-raising that we are also proud to support this wonderful exhibit that you will see today.  It is considered  one of the most comprehensive and engaging water exhibits ever created. We expect more than 100,000 people to visit this exhibit before it closes on June 14th.

On behalf of The Coca-Cola Company, I want to thank everyone involved in the preparation of this work, including:

• The World Water Council which recognized this exhibit as an official side event of the World Water Forum ...
  
  
• The Ministers of Environment, Culture, Education and  Agriculture who have all extended very important support ...
  
  
• And, of course, special thanks go to the American Museum of Natural History and the director of that fine organization, Kathy McDonald and its curator, Elenor Sterling.  We're pleased that both of these ladies have joined us today and we welcome you to Istanbul.

There is wonderful old Turkish proverb: "Damlaya damlaya gol olur." "Drop by drop, it will make a pond."

Many drops have contributed to this pond ... and many more will be needed to solve the global water crisis. But drop by drop, we will prevail.  We will solve this crisis.

[Recap in Turkish]

With that said, I would like to invite our Guest of Honor, His Excellency The President of Turkey, Mr. Abdullah Gul, to address the audience and then join us in cutting the ribbon to honor the formal inauguration of this exhibit. Your Excellency... 

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