Pepsico, The Nature Conservancy ink water agreement

PepsiCo Latin America and The Nature Conservancy have signed a collaboration agreement to replenish five watersheds located in the urban areas of Mexico City, Monterrey, São Paulo, Guatemala City and Bogotá over the next seven years, according to a PepsiCo statement.

The agreement entails providing US$3mn towards the Water for Planet program, a water conservation initiative that seeks to enable sustainable water security in water sources located near where PepsiCo has plants.

"Water is considered to be a foundational pillar for PepsiCo," PepsiCo Latin America CEO Laxman Narasimhan told BNamericas. "These five communities are communities in which we have manufacturing operations. We want the communities to know that it is not about taking water in one country and replenishing it in another, it is about ensuring our commitment with the communities in which we are working and showing them that the water we use is locally replenished."

Last month, PepsiCo launched its Performance with Purpose 2025 sustainable agenda, which includes specific goals to transform PepsiCo's food and beverage product portfolio in a way that responds to societal needs, contribute to a more sustainable global food system and help make local communities more prosperous.

One of the agenda's pillars is related to environmental protection and one of its goals is to reduce the company's water footprint and achieve positive water impact in the places company works.

This is not the first time that PepsiCo partners with The Nature Conservancy, a large charitable international environmental organization, in order to carry out water conservation projects in Latin America. Former projects have included the creation of a water coalition council for Latin America, the developing of two water funds in Mexico -one in Mexico City and another one in Monterrey - as well as another water program involving 12 metropolitan areas in Brazil.

A BNamericas interview with Narasimham about the new collaboration agreement and the company's actions regarding water conservation, will be published in the coming days.