World leaders are meeting in Paris to try and get the public and private sector to take steps aimed at increasing renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions. But as the beverage trade magazine Just-Drinks points out, our member companies have long been leaders in environmental stewardship.

Each company has set goals to improve sustainability but also collaborate on resource efficiency through the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER), a technical coalition of global beverage companies that work together to advance environmental sustainability, writes Ben Cooper.

“The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable… is now entering its 10th year, and can demonstrate a substantial body of work over its first nine years and a significant contribution towards quantifying and addressing the environmental impacts of beverage production,” he says.

In the recently published ‘Joint Commitment on Climate Change,’ BIER members state that they "commit to continuing to do our part to reduce GHG emissions, not only across our own operations, but also by driving action through their supply chains."

"We're trying to be recognized as leaders, understand and do our part, and now we're looking at what we can do to help our members meet these new commitments," BIER director Tod Christenson told Just-Drinks.

BIER is also focused on "developing tools and sharing technological experience… to help accelerate the sector's capability to meet future carbon reduction expectations," says Christenson.

The beverage industry believes that both the public and private sectors can have a significant impact on our environment by working together. To learn more about how our member companies are working towards more sustainable solutions and improving on our carbon footprint, visit InnovationNaturally.org.