Celebrating World Water Day: Living in Harmony with Water

On March 22^nd, people around the world came together to celebrate one of the essential building blocks of life – water. This year’s World Water Day theme, “Leaving no one behind,” is a statement that recognizes clean water is essential to life, and at Suntory, we are taking this day to recognize the importance of water as an essential part of our ecosystem.

Because our products rely on water, we do our best to protect and conserve this vital resource. To maintain the sustainability of groundwater, Suntory has created water sanctuaries in a few of our areas of production – most recently, Japan and the United States. In 2018, Beam Suntory teamed up with Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest to create The Jim Beam® Natural Water Sanctuary Alliance, a 15,625-acre privately held forest south of Louisville, Kentucky, to preserve the limestone that creates the pristine groundwater of Kentucky. In Japan, Suntory has built more than 20 Natural Water Sanctuaries covering more than 20,000 acres of forest to help protect quality sources of ground water. In France, Suntory’s subsidiary Orangina Suntory France works together in partnership with the Grand Parc Miribel Jonage to conduct forest conservation activities and support educational programs for children.

We also recognize the importance of educating the next generation on the value and necessity of protecting our natural water resources. This year marks the 15^th anniversary of Suntory “Mizuiku,” our educational program in Japan and Vietnam designed to teach children about the importance of nature and water.

Through these efforts, we hope to not only recognize the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6, which aims to ensure availability and sustainable management of water for all by 2030, but to be actively contributing to achieving it. Additionally, last year we signed the UN Global Compact “CEO Water Mandate,” to showcase how we believe that protection of groundwater sources, education of the next generation, and improvement of access to clean water are key contributions toward that goal. As always, on World Water Day and every day, we remain committed to our core philosophy of creating harmony with people and nature.