We are, quite literally, being sold inequality by the gallon.
Every product in your supermarket trolley took water to produce. Fresh fruit, vegetables, coffee, chocolate: all of it arrives on UK shelves through supply chains where water use is neither sustainable nor fair. Instead, the farmers and workers growing and harvesting the goods that stock Britain’s supermarkets face water pollution, vulnerability to floods and droughts, and lack of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
A new report, launched today by Water Witness, exposes the scale of this crisis across the cocoa supply chain.
The report explains that chocolate has one of the largest water footprints of any food product. But, families supplying beans to some of the world’s most recognisable chocolate brands are trapped in extreme water poverty with no reliable access to safe drinking water, sanitation or hygiene. This is happening while the global chocolate industry posts record profits and is valued at over $130 billion.
The same story plays out across the supermarket supply chain.
- Learn about the link between the fruit and veg on our supermarket shelves and the water crisis in Peru here.
- Learn more about the devastating case that 1,700 villagers from Malawi are taking on against a UK-owned sugar giant here.
Without binding rules for corporate actors, our economic system will continue to deliver the same result: profit concentrated at the top, poverty and environmental destruction borne by those at the bottom.
The solution is clear:
The UK government must enact a binding Business, Human Rights and Environment Act, requiring companies to identify and prevent human rights and environmental harms across their operations and value chains.
Over 70 MPs and Lords already support this, but more voices are needed to turn support into action.
The brands we know and love can do better.
Tell your MP: protect water, people and nature in global supply chains.
Demand a fair water footprint.
Posted by: CJC Team | Tagged as: Update