World Environment Center Gold Medal Award

Muhtar Kent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company
National Building Museum
Washington, D.C.
May 8, 2009

Thank you, Carter (Roberts), and thank you, Dr. Yosie and everyone from the World Environment Center, for this wonderful recognition. I also want to thank all of our distinguished friends and guests here for your kind support.

Tonight, I am merely a proxy for the nearly 1 million associates of The Coca-Cola Company and our 300 bottling company partners around the world.... Men and women whose commitment and hard work are helping us better manage our water, energy and packaging resources while growing our business. This is their award, and I am humbled and honored to represent them on this, the Silver Anniversary of the Gold Medal Presentation.

And just as you recognize us tonight, we salute the World Environment Center for 25 years of inspired leadership and for the incredible job you have done in raising the world's environmental consciousness.

This award marks an important milestone in Coca-Cola's sustainability journey and has already generated great excitement and momentum for our environmental leadership efforts around the world.

Receiving this honor on May 8th, of all days, also has special meaning for everyone associated with the Coca-Cola family. You see, exactly 123 years ago -- on May 8th, 1886 -- an enterprising pharmacist by the name of Dr. John Pemberton sold his first serving of Coca-Cola down at Jacobs Pharmacy in Atlanta. It was the birth of a beverage... and an idea... and a business model.

From our humble origins of less than 10 servings a day for that first year, Coca-Cola has grown into the most-recognized and among the most-respected brands the world has ever known. We've learned a lot over the years in terms of salesmanship, marketing, product quality and execution, to name a few.  And they've certainly played a huge role in our success.

I would contend, however, that the most important lesson we have learned and embraced over the last century is that our business is only as healthy and sustainable as the communities in which we operate.

This gets to the core of another important truth-- the Market Never Lies. The market never lies when quality slips, when companies make bad decisions, when corners are cut, when backs are turned on communities and the environment.

This, of course, is more true today than ever. Consumers judge us not only on the content and quality of our beverages but also on the content and quality of our character. And nothing speaks louder about our character than the way we treat our people, our communities and our planet.

Just last week, a new Harris Interactive Poll of 20,000 Americans showed just how much the public believes the character of Big Business has declined.  Almost 9 in 10 Americans now say they have a low regard for corporations.  In fact, 88 percent of respondents identified corporations as either “not good” or “terrible.”

This is the lowest dip in business reputation in the history of the Harris poll.  If that doesn't sound the alarm bell, nothing will. The implications for all of us in the corporate world are profound because indeed the Market Never Lies.

If there is a silver lining for us at Coca-Cola it is that this very same survey asked Americans to list their most admired companies in the world.  I am proud to say that The Coca-Cola Company was cited among the top four.

I'm also certain the work we're doing across the environmental sustainability spectrum factored heavily into this most favorable rating. And for that we owe our bottling partners... our suppliers... and all the people we work with from the NGO, business and government communities our greatest appreciation.

We also owe you our commitment that together we will continue to make solid and real progress in all of our environmental and sustainability efforts.

We realize that we still have much work ahead of us.

Tonight's Gold Medal Presentation gives us the confidence, though, that we are on the right track and that we have the support of those who matter most on this journey -- each and every one of you.

Thank you again.  Thank you.

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