Company: DIAGEO

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Welcome to our series aimed at spotlighting BIER projects.  As part of our Member and Stakeholder spotlight series featuring the individual leaders within BIER member companies and stakeholder organizations, our project spotlight series highlights BIER member companies and stakeholder organizations involved in the innovative Charco Bendito project.

Learn how these practitioners and their companies have collaborated to develop and implement this innovative, first-of-its-kind, basin-level watershed initiative addressing three main goals: water accessibility, quality, and availability. Gain insights into key learnings and what inspires each of them to advance environmental sustainability in the beverage sector and collectively, overall.

Briefly describe your role and responsibilities, how long you have worked with your company and your role/ involvement with the Charco Bendito project.

Two years ago, I was lucky to join the Corporate Relations team in DIAGEO Mexico as Government Relations Senior Manager, leading the Preserve Water for Life program in our communities. My responsibility is to ensure that our Tequila operations replenish more water than we use, invest in access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in communities near our site, and engage in collective action to contribute to a net positive water impact.

With great enthusiasm, a year ago, I took over DIAGEO’s representation for the Charco Bendito watershed project. Since then, I have been active in this unique collective action to ensure we expand our reach and impact within the Lerma-Santiago-Pacifico basin.

What were the initial drivers or incentives that committed you to the Charco Bendito project?

Water is a precious and shared resource that is facing increasing pressure. At DIAGEO we are committed to water stewardship. Our Spirit of Progress: Society 2030, a key part of our ESG agenda recognizes that collective actions like Charco Bendito will support building water resilience in a water stress basin in Lerma-Santiago-Pacifico, where our tequila operations are based.

How has the company’s involvement in Charco Bendito evolved over the course of the project, and what do you hope can be achieved in the future?

DIAGEO joined Charco Bendito in 2021 and has been highly active ever since. Together with our peers, we have participated in internal committees and engaged our Don Julio collaborators in this initiative, fostering strong collaboration and shared commitment.

In 2023, a fire unfortunately impacted Charco Bendito, requiring urgent action to restore the area. DIAGEO rose to the reforestation challenge, mobilizing 130 collaborators who, in just five days, planted over 12,000 plants across 24 hectares of the 40 hectares damaged.

This year, with the support of 165 collaborators, we planted an additional 13,000+ plants, contributing to 65% of Charco Bendito’s reforestation efforts for the year.

To date, we have supported the recovery of 50.4 hectares out of the 300 hectares the project aims to restore—an area equivalent to 76.4 football fields.

How has your participation in the Charco Bendito project aligned with your company’s sustainability and ESG goals and commitments?

Charco Bendito aligns closely with the multiple dimensions of our ESG Spirit of Progress: Society 2030 agenda. Our strategy focuses on water stewardship best practices across three key areas: water accessibility, availability, and quality. This includes efforts in replenishment, water access, and collective action.

To date, the project has successfully reforested 155 hectares, contributing to aquifer recharge, providing water access to over a thousand people, and collaborating with eight companies to drive environmental restoration. This initiative is a perfect fit with our ESG plan, embodying our commitment to sustainability and collective impact.

Name one of the practical solutions or best practices you learned in working on the Charco Bendito project and why it was important to you and/ or your company.

Definitely, Charco Bendito is a testament to how collaboration among diverse stakeholders can drive the success of an initiative.

What important takeaway or key learning will you take from your involvement with this project and apply to other projects?

Charco Bendito has a key element that has made this project successful, and that is that our local implementation partner, Red Bioterra, has a very close relationship with the community of San Lucas Evangelitas. They have embraced this project as their own. Red Bioterrra has successfully built a relationship based on trust and confidence. Without the community and common land owner’s involvement we wouldn’t be able to make an intervention.

In your opinion, what are the key elements that make this project so successful, and how would you use those elements in application to other similar projects?

A key element of this project is its multi-stakeholder approach, united by a common purpose: to join forces in mitigating the impacts of climate change. It reflects a shared understanding that we can achieve far more together than we ever could alone.

Charco Bendito, also known as “Blessed Puddle,” was a dream turned into a multi-industry and multi-year first-of-its-kind watershed collaboration. In keeping with the spirit of this project, if you had an eco-superpower that could be used to radically accelerate and scale best practices learned from this project, which one would it be, and how would you use it?

Over the past two years, we’ve faced a severe dry season, which has hindered tree growth and limited water infiltration. Without a doubt, if I could have any superpower, it would be to MAKE IT RAIN!