“Building a shared future for all life” is this year’s theme for World Biodiversity Day, serving as a reminder that we all play a role in the global community. Healthy, biodiverse ecosystems lay a strong foundation for preserving that community, promoting resilient and sustainable solutions to issues such as climate change, disease prevention, and food and water insecurity.

The loss of biodiversity poses serious concerns for the planet, given that humans depend on healthy ecosystems to provide fresh water, food and fuel sources. When these ecosystems come under strain, their natural infrastructure starts to degrade. One of the most essential systems to protect are natural watersheds; today, an estimated 1.7 billion people living in the world’s largest cities depend on surrounding watersheds, even if those watersheds are located hundreds of miles away.

Even with so many populations relying on these water sources, it is estimated that water scarcity will impact half the world’s population by the year 2030. This is one of the reasons our Company has developed a Biodiversity Program and initiated new efforts with organizations like The Nature Conservancy. Creating a better understanding of the areas in which our plants are located and assessing our impact in these local ecosystems will help us more effectively preserve critical water sources.

With conservation as our core goal, we are committed to replenishing 100% of the water we consume in our manufacturing facilities from our water-stressed locations by 2030, supporting Goal #9 in the Resource Efficiency pillar in Crown’s Twentyby30 program. Through our own water assessments, we have first identified the Crown Cabreúva facility to be in a water-stressed location, dependent on one of the key watersheds in São Paulo, Brazil. Due to severe deforestation, the area is experiencing severe soil erosion, increased flooding and droughts and polluted waterways. In an effort to protect this watershed, Crown is partnering with The Nature Conservancy to support the São Paulo Water Fund, working to protect 100 hectares of forest in the Jundiaí Mirim Watershed, offsetting 1,310 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year, while replenishing almost half of the water consumed in our Cabreúva plant over a 3-year timeline.