At the Reuters Impact conference on Monday, October 3rd, 2022 Ivan Menezes, the CEO of Diageo, the multinational alcoholic beverage company, said that he believes Scotland could face a water crisis in the next decade or two due to climate change. Ivan urged businesses and lawmakers to act now or Scotland could face a water shortage due to climate change. It all depends on how successful the world is at averting severe climate change, Menezes said.
Menezes stated that “There are scenarios where we could see being water-stressed in Scotland”. That is why part of his compensation is tied to Diageo hitting specific environmental goals including on water conservation. Diageo sees water conservation and environmental efforts as “really core to the long-term health of the business” Menezes said. And the company is already trying to replenish water in stressed areas it operates in, for example India.
Separately, Menezes said that Diageo is "not immune" to inflationary pressure and soaring energy costs but "should be OK" if Europe faces energy blackouts as soon as tomorrow. The war with Russia and Ukraine have driven up the energy prices to record numbers but Menezes said “We should be well-covered”. In addition the drinks industry as a whole has so far avoided taking a hit from an ongoing cost-of-living crisis in Europe. Diageo even recently reported strong sales of its most luxury products.
