PepsiCo Announces Initiatives With the Earth Institute and H2O Africa To Drive Sustainable...

PepsiCo Announces Initiatives With the Earth Institute and H2O Africa To Drive Sustainable Water Practices

Efforts To Improve Rural Water in Africa, China, India and Brazil
PURCHASE, N.Y.--(Business Wire)--PepsiCo announced today a major new grant made by the PepsiCo
Foundation to the Earth Institute at Columbia University, one of the
world's premier institutions dedicated to global sustainable
development. In addition, the company announced a partnership with H2O
Africa, a foundation focused on clean water initiatives in Africa.
Both initiatives are targeted to drive sustainable water practices as
part of PepsiCo's ongoing commitment to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).

The initiative led by the Earth Institute and supported by the
PepsiCo Foundation involves identifying a series of high-impact,
community-based activities and practical solutions across water,
agriculture and climate. The effort is focused on improving water
access, increasing water productivity and recommending innovative
methods to deliver "more crop per drop," among other goals. The Earth
Institute, directed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, will receive $6
million during a three-year period directed at projects in India,
Brazil, China and Africa based on annual progress in these markets.

The PepsiCo partnership with H2O Africa, the charitable
organization founded by Matt Damon, involves on-the-ground clean water
projects in Niger, Mali, Senegal and other countries in Africa. H2O
Africa will receive $2.5 million over the next 12 months.

"For PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation, these commitments begin
with a desire to address the worldwide water crisis. Water sits at the
nexus of so many challenges -- global health through disease
transmission, increasing hunger through poor agricultural practices,
and even education as children in water-scarce economies are often
charged with walking miles to collect water from a distant well
instead of attending school. Without clean water, none of the other
fundamentals leading to a healthy and prosperous life are possible,"
said Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo chairman and chief executive officer and
PepsiCo Foundation chairman.

"As part of our long-standing commitment to address this crisis,
we've entered into a strategic partnership with Jeffrey Sachs' Earth
Institute and Matt Damon's H2O Africa Foundation to find and implement
truly sustainable solutions in India, Brazil, China - the fastest
growing developing markets - and in communities in Africa, where the
need is greatest," said Nooyi. "As leading players in their respective
fields, Jeffrey and Matt are uniquely positioned to leverage their
influence to make these initiatives bigger, potentially
transformational. This is the essence of innovative collaboration,
where different parts of society can mesh to take an idea to scale."

Research reports that more than one billion people do not have
access to safe drinking water and every year approximately two million
children die unnecessarily from water-related diseases in the
developing world. As part of the Millennium Development Goals, which
were established in 2000 and endorsed by 192 nations, the world has
pledged to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable
access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

"Water is at the core of economic development and human well
being," said Sachs. "With water there can be productive agriculture,
good nutrition, sanitation, and health. Without water there is only
poverty and disease. Yet water is under unprecedented stress, from
inadequate farm practices, climate change, population pressures, and
pollution. New technologies, new business strategies, and new public
policies can overcome the growing water crisis. Our new project and
partnership will help to develop and demonstrate the best options for
future years in the Americas, Africa, and Asia."

The H2O Africa Foundation is focused specifically on clean water
initiatives in Africa, with a strategy of promoting a "best-of-class,
open model approach" to implementation in the field.

"On my trips to Africa I saw firsthand the life-changing impact
that access to safe water can have, especially for children," said
Matt Damon. "Along with other factors like sanitation, medical care
and education, safe water enables entire communities to pull
themselves out of the cycle of poverty. At H2O Africa, we are working
with established NGOs already 'on the ground' to bring assistance to
communities in need."

PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation's support of these two
step-changing initiatives is part of its ongoing support of the
Millennium Development Goals. In July, PepsiCo was among several
businesses to support a Declaration announced by UK Prime Minister
Gordon Brown at the United Nations calling for the achievement of the
Goals by 2015.

"The world's governments have identified access to clean water as
one of the key building blocks to ending global poverty. Without it,
none of the Millennium Development Goals will be met," added Nooyi.
"We believe that the world water crisis is one of the most pressing
challenges of our age. As a global food and beverage company, our
success depends on being responsible stewards of this limited
resource."

PepsiCo Foundation: PepsiCo Foundation is the charitable anchor of
the company's broader Performance with Purpose strategy for
sustainable development and corporate citizenship. Given rapidly
escalating changes in the environment, such as water scarcity and
insecurity, and climate changes, the Foundation seeks to help people
find ways to better manage resources within their communities. The
Foundation strives to positively impact local economic vitality by
encouraging community insights and actions that better manage water
and environmental resources at the community level, specifically those
that increase water security through active harvesting and watershed
resource management. In several of the most drought stricken regions
in the world, the Foundation has pledged to bring one million people
safe drinking water by 2010. PepsiCo Foundation, along with PepsiCo's
operating divisions, give grants to more than 1,000 community
organizations.

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) is one of the world's largest food and
beverage companies, with 2006 annual revenues of more than $35
billion. The company employs approximately 168,000 people worldwide,
and its products are sold in approximately 200 countries. Its
principal businesses include: Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages,
Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices and Quaker foods. The PepsiCo
portfolio includes 17 brands that generate $1 billion or more each in
annual retail sales. PepsiCo's commitment to sustainable growth,
defined as "Performance with Purpose," is focused on generating
healthy financial returns while giving back to communities the company
serves. This includes meeting consumer needs for a spectrum of
convenient foods and beverages, reducing the company's impact on the
environment through water, energy and packaging initiatives, and
supporting its employees through a diverse and inclusive culture that
recruits and retains world-class talent. PepsiCo is listed on the Dow
Jones North America Sustainability Index and Dow Jones World
Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit
www.pepsico.com.

H2O Africa Foundation: The H2O Africa Foundation has a mission to
create widespread public awareness of the water crisis in Africa and
gather support and funding for integrated sustainable clean water
programs in critical areas. Oversight of the H20 Africa programs and
initiatives will be through partnerships with major non-governmental
organizations as well as progress-based grant agreements. Donors can
be part of groups that are adopting specific communities to ensure
that they have safe water there. Every dollar contributed by donors
goes to the work in the field. Funds raised go to partner NGO's that
include: Millennium Promise, ONE X ONE, A Glimmer of Hope, Ryan's Well
Foundation, UNDP, and Living Water International.

The Earth Institute at Columbia University is an interdisciplinary
research institute that brings together talent from throughout the
university to address complex issues facing the planet and its
inhabitants, with particular focus on sustainable development and the
needs of the worlds' poor. Under the direction of Professor Jeffrey
Sachs, the Earth Institute supports pioneering projects in the
biological, engineering, social, and health sciences, while actively
encouraging interdisciplinary projects, often combining natural and
social sciences, in pursuit of solutions to real world problems.

Press:
For PepsiCo:
Lynn Markley, +1-914-253-3059
lynn.markley@pepsico.com
or
Oliver Phillips, +1-917-861-0331
ophillips@brunswickgroup.com
or
For Earth Institute:
Erin Trowbridge, +1-212-854-9485
trowbridge@ei.columbia.edu

Copyright Business Wire 2008