ISLAMABAD: PepsiCo Friday joined hands with WWF-Pakistan to invest Rs 160 million in a community water stewardship project with the aim for groundwater replenishment of 343 million litres at local watersheds near their Foods manufacturing plants by 2023.

The project launch was announced during the climate week with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between PepsiCo and WWF-Pakistan here on Friday. Under this partnership, PepsiCo has pledged to replenish more water than the company uses in its Foods operations through numerous initiatives including rainwater harvesting, floating treatment wetlands, and agricultural water-usage efficiency improvement.

The signing of this MoU recognizes that water conservation and replenishment is critical for tackling climate change-related water scarcity in Pakistan. The PepsiCo-WWF Pakistan collaboration on water stewardship is also consistent with PepsiCo's global ambition for becoming net water-positive by 2030 in high water-risk sites.

PepsiCo through its partnership with WWF-Pakistan will implement various water replenishment techniques at its manufacturing sites for balancing the percentage use of freshwater. During the MoU signing ceremony, PepsiCo Pakistan, Director Sales Mohammad Khosa shared his views, "Water scarcity is correlated with the escalating climate crisis and we have doubled down on our commitments to tackle climate change through water stewardship in our operations.

Water stewardship is a top priority for PepsiCo in water-stressed Pakistan to support our government in developing and managing the water sector for optimal use and community benefit." Speaking at the occasion, Director General WWF-Pakistan Hammad Naqi commented, "Urbanization is exacerbating water insecurity in many of Pakistan's major cities, including Lahore where groundwater levels are falling at an alarming rate of 2.5 to 3 feet per year."

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021