On 28 September, it was announced that the Coca-Cola Company would sponsor COP27, which Egypt is hosting from 6-8 November.
COP27, the 27th Conference of Parties, is an annual conference held by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where governments, businesses, and climate organisations discuss climate action, especially controlling greenhouse gas emissions.
There are three things you can expect to happen during COP: 1. Many countries will aspire to emissions targets rather than commit to them; 2. Activists will protest outside the conference for days; 3. At least one impassioned speech from a young person will be turned into a right-wing Facebook meme.
Climate activists worldwide were shocked by this sponsorship and quickly rushed to social media to accuse Coca-Cola of greenwashing. Greenpeace, who are currently campaigning against the soft drink company’s plastic production, said the sponsorship “undermines the very objective of the event it seeks to sponsor”.
Coca-Cola produces around 120 billion plastic bottles (made from fossil fuels) every year and has been named the world’s worst plastic polluter for the fourth year in a row. Greenpeace has accused Coke of setting unambitious climate targets that are not in line with the urgent action recommended by climate scientists to keep Earth liveable.
Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer at Coca-Cola, Marcel Martin, stated that the company is a recognised “leader in sustainability” and that they are proud of the “significant progress towards our NetZeroby40 goal”.
Their Vice President of Sustainability, Michael Goltzman, said, “global challenges like plastic waste, water stewardship, and climate change are far too great for any single government, company, or industry to solve individually” and that COP27 will allow Coke to learn more about sustainability across their production line.
This is not the first time a questionable corporation has sponsored COP. In 2021, COP26 was sponsored by Unilever, a multinational consumer goods company. Unilever has been accused of hiring security to shoot striking employees with rubber bullets and lobbying major international climate and economic forums.
It was reported that COP26 sponsorships amounted to nearly $500 million total, with other major sponsors including Sky, Hitachi, National Grid, ScottishPower, Microsoft, NatWest, and Sainsbury’s.
A previous delegate of COP26, Georgia Elliott-Smith, has created a petition calling for the UNFCC to stop receiving corporate sponsorship, starting with Coke for COP27. In the petition, Elliott-Smith wrote, “Most days I felt despair—some days I cried. The infiltration of corporations into the conference was sickening.”
When asked what she thought about the sponsorship, UoA Environmental Science student and climate activist Alysha said, “Coke sponsoring COP27 is like Mormons sponsoring a sex toy convention: there isn’t going to be any action happening there.”
A postgrad Science student and climate activist, who wished to remain anonymous, felt COP’s sponsorship was akin to the sponsored building we have our chilliest lectures inside.
“It’s great PR for Coca-Cola. They get to pretend they’re serious about climate change while keeping up their climate-wrecking business as usual. We see similarly ironic situations here, with carbon-intensive corporations sponsoring community initiatives (shout out to Fisher and Paykel Appliances Auditorium). It’s absurd but effective.”
Molly, a Law and Arts student and climate activist, believes there could be a place for Coke at COP.
“Should big corporations like Coke be part of COP? Absolutely, but only to attend and with the aim of becoming more sustainable. Should big corporations like Coke sponsor COP? Absolutely not. If corporations are not actively committed to sustainability, then this will only ever be a way of compensating for inaction. Honestly, the whole conference is losing its authority and credibility by having Coke as their main sponsor.”
Greenpeace Aotearoa is currently campaigning for our government to hold corporations like Coke accountable by banning single-use plastic bottles and mandating reusable alternatives. You can sign their Ban the Bottle petition to support this.
As put by the anonymous postgrad student that Craccum interviewed, “The fact that polluters invest in their image is evidence that public opinion and protest have the power to turn the tide against them.”
