NEW YORK, March 13, 2006 - Reflecting the growing importance of corporate responsibility to the U.S. and international business community, The Coca-Cola Company has officially joined the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative. Coca-Cola chairman and chief executive officer E. Neville Isdell informed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan of the company's commitment to the Global Compact and its ten principles during a meeting at United Nations Headquarters.

The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., the company has one of the world’s most extensive distribution systems and markets a variety of beverages in more than 200 countries. In the most recent fiscal year the company posted net operating revenues of approximately $23 billion.

"Coca-Cola’s participation is an affirmation of the growing momentum of the Global Compact around the world and particularly in the U.S. market, where more and more companies are engaging," said Georg Kell, executive head of the Global Compact. "The Coca-Cola Company is in a powerful position to advance the tenets of corporate responsibility and the Global Compact’s ten principles in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment and anti-corruption."

The Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate responsibility initiative with 2,900 participants and stakeholders from 90 countries, including a number of major U.S. corporations. Through its web of approximately 50 Local Networks spanning every region of the world, the Global Compact aims to balance global reach with local contextualization of its ten principles and related corporate citizenship issues.

"Our support for the United Nations Global Compact is a formal expression of The Coca-Cola Company's commitment to conduct our business with the utmost respect for universal principles around human rights, workplace standards, responsible environmental practices, and anti-corruption," said Isdell. "Our commitment applies to The Coca-Cola Company and all of the entities that it owns or in which it holds a majority interest."

Kell noted that The Coca-Cola Company has in recent years implemented a range of corporate citizenship initiatives and projects around the world including programs related to HIV/AIDS, water sanitation and minority empowerment. The company is working in partnership with various United Nations organizations, including UNICEF, United Nations Development Program, and UNAIDS, on many such projects. "By joining the Global Compact, Coca-Cola has an opportunity to build on its already impressive work and help contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive global economy," he said.