SBL environmental projects key in addressing climate change challenges

More than 120 world leaders have gathered at the UN’s climate change summit in Egypt with a UN report released on Sunday saying the past eight years were on track to be the warmest on record.

This year’s meeting marks the 27th gathering of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or COP27 for short.

Conference delegates are scheduled to discuss further ways to accelerate plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, as well as financial and technological assistance to curb climate change damage.

The UN call to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is supported locally by both public and private organisations in a bid to reach the 2030 target.

In Tanzania for example, Serengeti Breweries Limited (SBL) has been implementing various environmental protection projects, particularly treeplanting campaigns in different parts of the country. The SBL parent company,

Diageo has committed to working towards a low-carbon future, harnessing 100 per cent renewable energy to achieve net zero carbon emissions across direct operations and working with suppliers to reduce indirect carbon emissions by 50 per cent.

SBL’s tree planting intervention comes at a critical juncture in the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at regional and international levels to combat climate change and ensure a safe and protected environment for future generations.

“SBL and our parent company, Diageo, take environmental protection seriously as a critical aspect of the success of our manufacturing process,” said SBL Managing Director, Mark Ocitti recently.

Similarly, climate change has been disrupting weather patterns, leading to extreme weather events, unpredictable water availability, exacerbating water scarcity and contaminating water supplies. Such impacts can drastically affect the quantity and quality of water that children need to survive.

By 2030 Diageo will ensure that every drink it produces will take 30 per cent less water to make than it does today and will achieve a net positive water impact in its key water-stressed basins and communities.

It will also deliver over 150 community water projects across the world, including providing access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene. It is from this backdrop that SBL embarked on a water project investing in boreholes in Dar es Salaam, Iringa, Mwanza, Tanga, Ruvuma,

Dodoma, and the coastal region, providing clean and safe water to over 2 million people. Through its programme known as Water of Life (WOL), the SBL has in most of these projects partnered with other organizations to ensure that Tanzanians are provided with safe and clean water in some of the neediest areas.

The progressive Water of Life project was undertaken in collaboration with the Tanzania government and WaterAid Tanzania. SBL has implemented about 23 water projects countrywide worth over 2bn/- that have provided water to over two million people in eight regions.

For example, recently SBL in collaboration with Water Aid and the Tanzania government launched a water project in Bassotu village, Hanang District in Manyara Region to provide clean and safe water to more than 4,000 residents.

With the capacity to serve 14,000 people, the Nalgonda Water Treatment Plant is set to deliver safe, clean water to four villages in Basuto, Dangaida, Viendamudiga, and Dilna in Basuto Ward. SBL’s Corporate Relations Director, John Wanyancha, said, “This progressive Water of Life project was undertaken in collaboration with the Government of Tanzania and WaterAid Tanzania to improve health, increase economic productivity, empower women, and allow girls to pursue their education because now, they no longer need to trek for hours to find clean water,” The Water for Life Project is part of similar initiatives that the brewer has undertaken in the Iringa, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Tanga, Ruvuma, Dar es Salaam, Coast, and Dodoma regions, providing over one million beneficiaries with clean and safe water.

Also, SBL launched another water project at Kihanju village, Itigi ward in Manyoni district, Singida Region worth 293m/-. With the capacity to serve over 2,000 people directly, the jointly financed project consists of a borehole and its systems, a water pump, a water tank, and a distribution network.

The SBL MD said that the Kihanju project will not only boost the residents’ health but will also increase economic productivity, particularly for women, who will no longer need to spend long hours finding clean water elsewhere.

“SBL has a policy commitment towards the wellbeing of our community, with Water of Life being one of our four priority areas that our company has defined in its objective to provide social support to the community in which it serves,” said Mark.

The project has supplemented the government’s efforts under the Water Sector Development Program (WSDP 2025 framework, which aims at ensuring 100 per cent of Tanzanians have access to safe water supply and improved sanitation services.

SBL has since 2010 to date, spent over 1.1bn/- in drilling 19 boreholes across the country, an undertaking that has made a significant contribution to the alleviation of the shortage of water in the country.

According to water.org, only 57 per cent of Tanzania’s population of 57 million has access to an improved source of safe water, and only 30 per cent has access to improved sanitation.