Water

Many of the water systems that support ecosystems, communities, agriculture, and industry have become stressed and are drying up or becoming too polluted to use, with the situation being exacerbated by climate change. Given the importance of these issues, Mondelēz International is aligned with the UN’s Sustainable development goals, in particular concerning the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

From growing and sourcing the raw materials that we rely on, to operating our facilities, our business depends on water to help ensure the safety and resilience of our people and products, the security of our supplies, and the well-being of our consumers. Because water resources are shared among all users of a watershed, we recognize the need to build trust with other stakeholders and engaging in collective action within our priority watersheds.

Water stewardship is the lens we apply to develop our water strategy while we continue our effort to reduce our environmental impacts and to source our agricultural ingredients more sustainably. We are implementing the following approach to drive both site- and catchment-based actions:

• Continue delivering against our 2025 goal for water withdrawal reduction at priority manufacturing sites, in water-stressed locations.

In parallel, focus on:

• Identification of at-risk watersheds informed by our global water risk assessment and business priorities for our operations and supply chain.  
• Development of detailed roadmaps and action plans for key basins by 2026, including local stakeholder consultation, to identify and respond to local water risks in at-risk watersheds.
• Deliver water stewardship outcomes thereafter, in line with our water stewardship strategy.  

To mitigate and adapt to future water risk and support the conservation of freshwater ecosystems Mondelēz International intends to focus its strategy on the following areas:

• Continue working to prevent, minimize, and control pollution, while meeting or exceeding the requirements of all applicable environmental laws and regulations. 
• Respond to emerging water risks by updating our Health, Safety and Environment Standard for Water Supply Management with best practices from e.g. the Alliance for Water Stewardship’s Standard for facilities in at-risk watersheds. 
• Provide a safe and healthy work environment, including safe water for drinking and hygiene in our facilities, while promoting the access to water in the communities where we operate.

We will continue to integrate water stewardship roles, responsibilities and accountability into our internal governance structures tasked with supporting and driving public commitments, to enhance board oversight on water, a culture of accountability and compliance, and proactive two-way dialogues with stakeholders. Future water risk and impact considerations will continue to be considered as part in strategic business decision-making.