Coca Cola beverages are being offloaded from the truck into one of the shops in Durban on May 18, 2021. Picture: Bongani Mbatha /African News Agency (ANA)
Coca-Cola produces 120 billion throwaway plastic bottles a year, 99% of which are made from fossil fuels, worsening both the plastic and climate crisis.
Yet, the government of Egypt announced last week that it had signed a cooperation agreement with Coca-Cola, introducing the company as a sponsor for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27) to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh from 6 to 18 November.
In response, Greenpeace USA Oceans Campaign Director, John Hocevar said, “it is baffling that Coca-Cola, the world’s biggest plastic polluter in the Break Free From Plastic brand audits, will sponsor this year’s UNFCCC Conference of Parties in Egypt.
“They have yet to even acknowledge that this is a problem or explain how they will meet their climate goals without ending their plastic addiction. This partnership undermines the very objective of the event it seeks to sponsor,” Hocevar said.
Hocevar implored that “cutting plastic production and ending single-use plastic is in line with the goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees. If Coca-Cola really wants to solve the plastic and climate crisis, it needs to turn off its plastic tap.”
Ending Coca-Cola’s addiction to single-use plastic is an important part of moving away from fossil fuels, protecting communities, and combating climate change.
Paul Whang, Climate Action Fellow for Fairfax and San Anselmo in California shared his reservations about COP27 happening in Egypt.
“I was very sceptical. I still am. I still think that this is a ploy by the Egyptian government to greenwash its long record of human rights abuses, attacks on workers’ rights to organise, and overall repression,” said Whang.
“The conference will take place as thousands of people like academics, activists, journalists, and students are still jailed and abused for demanding basic human rights. The response of the military regime to protests and campaigns related to environmental issues has been just as harsh, whether over plans to build coal-fired power stations, polluting industries or the destruction of green spaces,” Whang concluded.