Coca-Cola, World Wide Fund for Nature, and Korea Institute of Ecology and Environment
Sign Mutual Cooperation Agreement for Water Resource Securing Project
On the 20th, Goseong-gun, Gyeongnam Province signed a mutual cooperation agreement on the ‘Water Circulation and Water Resource Securing Project’ with Coca-Cola Korea, WWF-Korea (World Wide Fund for Nature Korea), and the Korea Institute of Ecology and Environment.
This agreement was established as part of Coca-Cola Korea’s ‘Integrated Water Resource Management Project,’ which has been underway since 2017 to return the water used in beverage production back to nature.
The signing ceremony was attended by Lee Sang-geun, County Governor; Koo Nam-joo, Executive Director of Coca-Cola Korea; Park Min-hye, Senior Director of WWF-Korea; and Lee Sang-yong, Chairman of the Korea Institute of Ecology and Environment.
Goseong-gun, Gyeongnam Province, signed an agreement with Coca-Cola Korea, the Korea branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature, and the Korea Institute of Ecology and Environment.
The main point of the agreement is that Coca-Cola Korea plans to invest project funds directly to secure water resources for villages suffering from water shortages and to manage water sustainably in the long term.
The first target site selected this year is Seongjeon Village in Maam-myeon, a rural village with dry paddy fields upstream of a dry stream, known as one of the areas chronically lacking agricultural water.
Accordingly, Coca-Cola Korea promoted a dredging project to increase the water storage capacity of the Seongjeon small reservoir upstream of the stream, and to accelerate the project, construction began before the formal agreement so that it could be completed together with the signing.
The completion ceremony of the Seongjeon small reservoir, held after the signing ceremony, was attended by Vice Governor Jo Yong-jeong, Executive Director Koo Nam-joo, Senior Director Park Min-hye, Chairman Lee Sang-yong, related officials, and residents of Seongjeon Village, adding luster to the event.
Executive Director Koo said, “Under the management philosophy of ‘sustainable management,’ Coca-Cola Korea has been conducting the ‘Water Return Project’ with the aim of returning water to local communities and nature. Going forward, we will continue to manage the watershed area in cooperation with local communities to create a better water resource environment, and carry out various eco-friendly projects suitable for Korea in partnership with WWF.”
Governor Lee said, “I am pleased that through this public-private cooperation agreement, we can secure water resources for rural areas struggling with agricultural water shortages and alleviate residents’ concerns. Goseong-gun will continue to promote agricultural infrastructure expansion projects, such as the creation of reservoirs (large ponds) linked to river water, to solve water shortages and fulfill the long-standing wishes of local residents.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
