COP27's Coke sponsorship leaves bad taste with green groups

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The Egyptian organizers cited Coca-Cola's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and key focus on climate when they announced the sponsorship deal in September, which triggered immediate outrage on social media. Climate Change's website says it “seeks to engage in mutually beneficial partnerships with non-Party stakeholders.” Georgia Elliott-Smith, a sustainability consultant and environmental activist who set up the online petition, said she's calling on the U.N. "to stop accepting corporate sponsorship for these events, which simply isn’t necessary, and stop enabling these major polluters to greenwash their brands, piggybacking on these really critical climate talks.” Environmental groups slammed the decision to let Coca-Cola be a sponsor, saying it's one of the world’s biggest plastic producers and top polluters. Coca-Cola said it will partner with other businesses, civil society organizations and governments “to support cooperative action" on plastic waste and noted that it signed joint statements in 2020 and 2022 urging U.N. member states to adopt a global treaty to tackle the problem “through a holistic, circular economy approach." “This group of people — mining companies and politicians — are deciding on carbon emissions.” Elliott-Smith, the environmental activist, attended last year's COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, as a legal observer to the negotiations.