Nespresso highlights the risk of climate change to coffee production

Global brand Nespresso highlights the risk of climate change to coffee production in its new campaign. The brand’s ‘The Empty Cup’ campaign features brand ambassador George Clooney holding an empty coffee cup as a symbol of the risk facing many coffee growers around the world, of which over 140,000 work directly with Nespresso.

Currently, 60% of wild coffee species are endangered and 50% of the land used to grow coffee today could be unviable by 2050. Fine-grade Arabica is particularly vulnerable to weather shocks. As such securing and protecting the future of high-quality coffee is central to Nespresso’s strategy. The brand is delivering its promise through regenerative agriculture that has the potential to not only reduce global agri-food emissions but to increase rural resilience against the impacts of climate change.

Commenting on the campaign Nespresso CEO Guillaume Le Cunff said, “The exquisite taste, high quality and specialty coffee blends that are important to coffee lovers are at risk. We must act to protect coffee and coffee communities against climate change. This has been the basis of Nespresso’s approach for 20 years, and now we’re going even further. Regenerative agriculture has the potential to make farming part of the solution to the climate crisis. It is an approach which doesn’t just take from the land, but actually heals nature and restores balance. I’m proud that Nespresso is pioneering this transition, but we need to do more. We’re calling on entities – both private and public – to take action that will make a tangible difference.”

“The threat of climate change is real and coffee farmers are on the front line. It’s vital that we empower these communities to build financial and environmental resilience, so that they not only survive but thrive and prosper. This concept is at the heart of the Nespresso approach. But this is about more than coffee. Climate change is not something that a single company or even an entire industry can fix. It requires urgent, bold action on a global scale. The stakes are high,” Clooney added.