Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent urges action on water shortages

The chief executive of Coca-Cola Co. urged an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to find solutions to growing water shortages.

According to prepared remarks obtained by the AJC, Muhtar Kent on Thursday called Coca-Cola "the canary in the coal mine” when it comes to gauging the health of the world’s water supply and quality. With over 900 bottling facilities in over 200 countries, Coca-Cola has improved its water-use efficiency by 20 percent since 2002, and is aiming for an additional 20 percent improvement in water-use efficiency by 2012.

"We can’t sit back and watch the water of the world continue to drain into a non-returnable abyss," Kent said, according to the text of his speech. "I propose to you that history will judge us poorly if we do not act, together, today."

First reported by the AJC on Twitter here.

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