Coca-Cola Partners with Global Citizen Live to Defend the Planet and Defeat Poverty

Many of the world’s biggest music artists and activists will take the stage at Global Citizen LIVE in New York, Paris and other global cities across six continents on Sept. 25 to encourage governments, corporations and philanthropists to defend the planet and defeat poverty through a collaborative focus on three urgent, interrelated threats: climate change, vaccine equity and famine.

The 24-hour worldwide event will be broadcast and streamed live on networks and platforms including ABC (and all Disney outlets), Hulu, FX, Facebook, YouTube and BBC. As a global co-chair, The Coca-Cola Company will highlight its partnership with The Ocean Cleanup. 

James Quincey, chairman and CEO, and Bea Perez, chief communications, sustainability and strategic partnerships officer, will appear onstage in New York’s Central Park to share how the company is teaming up with The Ocean Cleanup up to stem the tide of marine waste by intercepting plastic debris from 15 rivers around the world by the end of 2022. The collaboration supports The Coca-Cola Company’s World Without Waste vision to collect a bottle or can for every one it sells by 2030.

“The Coca-Cola Company is proud to support the work that Global Citizen is doing to help drive awareness and action for some of the most pressing issues facing our planet. Our Coca-Cola teams share this mission and are making a positive difference in our communities around the world,” Perez said. “We are taking action to further COVID-19 vaccine distribution and education through partners like Project Last Mile  as well as other initiatives that support a healthy, debris-free environment through the company’s commitment to a World Without Waste.”

Timed to align with the UN General Assembly and G20 and COP26 climate meetings, Global Citizen LIVE will issue an urgent plea to:

• Donate at least 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to those most in need by September. While about 50% of the United States and Europe are fully vaccinated and oversupplied with doses, less than 2% of Africa is protected as the continent is experiencing a devastating third wave. 
• Address the hunger crisis affecting 41 million people on the brink of famine by contributing enough meals to feed everyone for the next year. 
• Combat climate change by securing commitments from the world’s largest companies to develop verified, science-based targets to reach net zero emissions and pledge to conserve, restore and grow at least 1 billion additional trees by 2022 towards the trillion trees movement.

“Over the last year and a half, we’ve seen music bring communities together and inspire action during one of the most challenging times of our generation,” said Katie Hill, SVP, head of music, entertainment and artist relations, Global Citizen. “We’re excited to join these incredible artists to unite people across the globe on September 25th as we hold world leaders and business leaders accountable to rectify the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Coca-Cola will be the official concessionaire for the New York and Paris events. Signage and on-site consumer experiences will encourage recycling and showcase the company’s efforts to reduce its climate footprint and incorporate recycled PET (rPET) into its packaging.

Longstanding partners Coca-Cola and Global Citizen are teaming up to highlight progress on key sustainability priorities such as women’s empowerment, water replenishment, sustainable packaging and climate action. In April 2020, Coca-Cola sponsored Global Citizen’s “One World: Together at Home”, which raised $127.9 million to equip healthcare workers with vital equipment and enable local charities to provide food, shelter and healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Coca-Cola’s partnership with Global Citizen dates back to 2013, when the company and will.i.am unveiled the EKOCYCLE brand onstage at the Global Citizen Festival Concert in New York. EKOCYCLE aspired to educate people about everyday recycling choices and empower their purchasing decisions as part of a social change movement, repurposing recycled plastic bottles into fashion-forward lifestyle products.

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