Which recent ESG initiative or improvement are you most proud of?
The continued growth of Smashed, our award-winning underage drinking prevention programme delivered in partnership with Diageo, reaching more than 9m young people across 38 countries through theatre, workshops and digital learning, empowering them to understand the risks of underage drinking and to make informed choices.
What do you believe is the biggest ESG challenge facing the drinks industry today?
Right now, in a period of considerable economic and financial uncertainty, the biggest challenge is maintaining investment in, and prioritisation of, ESG activities. Incredible progress has been made over the past decade, and the industry continues to have a crucial role to play in all facets of the ESG landscape in the decades to come.
What advice would you give to companies looking to strengthen their ESG performance?
Probably greater collaboration. The consolidation of initiatives and projects into unified, multi-agency, intra-industry partnerships on a given agenda or issue wherever possible has the potential to eliminate duplicative efforts, unlock shared resources and intelligence and build powerful collective leverage to solve what are undeniably complex socio-environmental challenges.
Collingwood Learning won ‘Responsible Drinking/Alcohol Harm Reduction Initiative of the Year’ in the Global Drinks Intel ESG Awards last year. How did winning this award influence your approach?
The award reinforced our conviction that education can be a powerful force for positive change. It has encouraged us to keep innovating, expanding our reach and working with partners to help more young people around the world make safer, healthier decisions.
