It takes three pints of water to make a pint of Guinness at St James’s Gate in Dublin.
But at COP27 in Egypt, owner Diageo’s global water director Michael Alexander says they hope to cut it another 30 per cent by 2030.
We know the home of the ‘black stuff’ announced it was going green earlier this year with a project to help its farmers across Ireland work more in harmony with nature.
Micheal tells us efforts to transform their fleet to climate friendly trucks is ongoing. But he says Diageo is also trying to reduce its water use and help locals in drought-hit African nations, where the drink has taken off.
Read more: Guinness owner Diageo vows not to hike price of pints for rest of the year
It’s been almost five years since they announced plans to switch three breweries in Kenya and Uganda to renewables. But they need water to make their drinks, so Micheal says saving more of “the precious resource” at breweries in “water stressed” countries like Nigeria and Ghana is a major focus for the firm.
He told us: “My role is looking after our water programmes and obviously we focus on water because we are a beverage company. The main target that applies to the brewery is to improve the water efficiency... it has improved significantly and now the water used to make a pint of Guinness has halved since 2008.
“If you take Baileys, I think it’s down a third since 2015.”
But they are not stopping there. “No matter where you are in the world, water is a resource,” he added.
“We focus on water stressed areas like Africa and India, we also need to make sure everybody is using water more responsibly and that includes St James’s Gate. If we are using less water for a pint of Guinness that means we have got less water to treat at the end of the process and it’s good for the environment and it’s costing us less.
“It’s a priority whether you are in Dublin.. Nairobi, Delhi or Manitoba. We’ve got to focus on using natural resources more efficiently.
“That’s why we are at COP - climate is very important to us as we face the climate impact in the supply chain,” he added. “It’s droughts, it’s floods, it’s water quality so that’s why we’ve got a small team at COP this week to learn more... and make sure we are doing our very best.
“West Africa is a massive market for Guinness and it’s doing very well,” Michael continued.
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“All the activity that we are doing in those countries is probably significantly ratcheted up compared to what we are doing [in Ireland] because they are water stressed countries.
“Their target is higher than St James’s Gate target and we do more work with farmers to help them. We provide clean water and sanitation to many of the communities that grow the barley or the sorghum.
“We are very mindful of our responsibilities in those communities and are supporting them with seeds and agronomy advice to get the maximum yield. Where there is no access to clean water or people have to walk long distances to get water we are also putting in clean water and sanitation in many of those communities, working with partners like Wateraid.”
Two new solar-powered water facilities they commissioned in Ghana this year provide 25,000 litres of safe drinking water to 18,298 people
“It’s not all of them but step-by-step, year-by-year we do more and more.”
Uganda’s Permanent Secretary, Minister of Water and Environment, Alfred Okot Okidi, told us: “Diageo investment in water supplies is investment in humanity and sustainability. Africa faces water stress and this is reflected in inadequate water quantity and decline in quality.
“The funding gap is huge [for the] government, therefore [we] welcome support from the private sector. Nearly 70% of industries depend on water for their processes. Private sector needs to invest in water sources and provision of water.
“We implore other companies to emulate Diageo leadership and invest in water supplies and sources."
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