How Does Diageo Promote Water Security in the Drinks Sector?

Diageo's President of Global Supply & Procurement and Chief Sustainability Officer, Ewan Andrew, has secured eighth position in Sustainability Magazine's Top 250 Sustainability Leaders 2026.

The recognition highlights his significant contributions to the company's environmental initiatives, particularly in areas such as sustainable sourcing, recycled packaging and regenerative agriculture.

Ewan's journey with the spirits company began in 1997 at United Distillers, a Diageo subsidiary, before officially joining Diageo in 2002 as a Category Manager for Cartons and Gift Packaging.

Throughout his two-decade tenure, he has taken on various positions across procurement, operations and packaging divisions.

His career progression saw him serve as Supply Director for five years before advancing to Senior Vice President (SVP) Manufacturing and Distilling for North America.

In this capacity, he oversaw the safe and efficient operations of the company's distillation, maturing product, bottling and packaging infrastructure.

He assumed his present dual roles in September 2019. Ewan holds a Bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Edinburgh.

Diageo's sustainability framework

The company's environmental and social commitment is structured around its Spirit of Progress plan, designed to foster a more inclusive and sustainable world.

The strategy encompasses four core priorities:

• Doing business the right way
• Promoting positive drinking
• Pioneering grain to glass sustainability
• Championing inclusion and diversity

Diageo seeks to transform drinking behaviours through engagement, education and empowerment, enabling consumers to make informed decisions.

The company has already achieved considerable reach, delivering responsible drinking messages to one billion people.

On the environmental front, Diageo has set targets to reduce Scope 3 emissions by 26% by 2030 and to reach net zero across Scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 2050.

Additional objectives include increasing recycled content in packaging and establishing regenerative agriculture programmes across ten key sourcing landscapes.

A notable initiative involves the restoration of Scottish peatland, with Diageo committing up to £5m (US$6.3m) over five years.

The project targets the restoration of up to 3,000 hectares of degraded peatland throughout Scotland. The company will identify and co-fund projects focused on restoring depleted peatlands, increasing carbon storage, enhancing biodiversity and improving water management.

Ewan says: "Restoring and protecting Scotland's peatlands is essential to addressing climate change, protecting biodiversity and reducing carbon emissions.

"Peatlands also play an important role in water management, ensuring the sustainability of Scotch whisky's number one ingredient.

"Through collective action with other partners and producers, we'll restore many more times the amount of peat than we will use."

Water stewardship priorities

Water resilience represents another critical component of Diageo's sustainability approach.

The company aims to reduce operational water consumption, targeting a 40% improvement in water use efficiency in water-stressed areas and a 30% improvement company-wide. These goals will be pursued through efficiency projects and investments in water recycling and reuse.

Beyond direct operations, Diageo is addressing indirect water use within its agricultural supply chains.

This involves mapping water consumption and incorporating water and nature priorities into regenerative agriculture programmes.

Through knowledge sharing with suppliers and partners, the company is strengthening supply chain resilience whilst supporting vulnerable communities and ecosystems.

Ewan says: "At Diageo, water is the most important ingredient in all our products, our most strategic climate risk and for these reasons, a critical pillar in our Spirit of Progress goals.

"We view water stewardship not as a sideline – but as a business imperative and a shared responsibility that is key to our climate adaptation. But businesses can't do it alone. The water systems we so heavily rely upon are shared assets.

"They require shared solutions and scale. Governments, businesses and communities can and need to work together to manage the world's most precious shared resource."