With its new campaign, Nespresso protects coffee from the effects of climate change

On World Coffee Day, Nespresso, as a pioneer and reference point for high-quality capsule coffees, highlights the threat posed by climate change to global coffee production and shines a spotlight on efforts to protect coffee. In the new campaign, called The Empty Cup, brand ambassador George Clooney holds an empty coffee cup as a symbol of the risk faced today by the vast number of coffee farmers around the world, of which more than 140,000 farmers work closely with with Nespresso. Climate change currently threatens 60% of wild coffee varieties, and by 2050, 50% of the land used for coffee cultivation may become unsuitable for cultivation. Better Arabica varieties are particularly sensitive to strong weather shocks.

Protecting high-quality coffee and securing its future has been central to Nespresso’s strategy for 20 years

The Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program, established in 2003 with the Rainforest Association, aims to increase the quantity and quality of the crop while protecting the environment and improving the quality of life of producers and their communities. For the long-term, sustainable cultivation of high-quality coffee, it is crucial that farming communities are able to protect their plantations from strong weather effects and, at the same time, fight against the causes of climate change. For Nespresso, the tool for this is regenerative (soil renewal) agriculture, that is, an approach that not only reduces the emissions of the global agri-food industry, but also makes farmland more resistant to the effects of climate change. The Empty Cup campaign is the first time that Nespresso’s long-known brand ambassador is holding an empty cup instead of the now-trademark Nespresso coffee. George Clooney said: “Climate change is a real threat and coffee farmers are on the front lines. It is vital that we support these communities to be financially and environmentally resilient and to not just survive, but thrive and grow. This idea is at the heart of Nespresso’s efforts. But it’s about more than coffee. No single company, or even an entire industry, can solve climate change. We need to act very quickly and decisively, on a global scale. The stakes are huge.”

Guillaume Le Cunff, CEO of Nespresso, said: “Special taste, high quality and specialty coffee blends are at risk – that is, everything that is important to coffee lovers. We must act to protect coffee and coffee-growing communities from the effects of climate change. This has been the basis of Nespresso’s approach for 20 years now, but now we are going even further. Regenerative agriculture offers the opportunity for farming to play an important role in solving the climate crisis. This is an approach that not only takes away from the land, but has a real healing effect on the natural environment and restores the imbalance. I am proud that Nespresso is pioneering this transformation, but we need to do more. Therefore, we are asking private and public organizations to take action that will result in tangible change.”

According to Santiago Gowland, CEO of the Rainforest Alliance: “Nearly a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions come from agriculture, forestry and other land-use activities. More effective action is needed immediately to deal with climate change, and changing food production methods is key to this. The good news is that switching to regenerative agriculture can reduce the environmental impact of farming and preserve our global food system for future generations.”

Collaboration with Time magazine

The Empty Cup is now George Clooney’s sixteenth Nespresso campaign. Before World Coffee Day on October 1, the brand ambassador asks readers to “think about what’s outside the cup” in relation to climate change. In collaboration with Time magazine, Nespresso aims to highlight the threat to high-quality coffee and show how farmers are fighting back. The Time100 Next issue will be available from September 30.