Candy giant Mars investing US$1B to tackle emissions across supply chain
by Cleantech Canada Staff
Under a new sustainability initiative, the company aims to cut its overall greenhouse gas emissions by 67 per cent by 2050, lift smallhold farmers out of poverty
NEWARK, N.J.—Mars Inc. is putting its money where its mouth is.
Earlier this week, the head of the U.S.-based company, which makes a long list of sweets and pet food, affirmed that a “huge step change” is required to meet the climate targets laid out in the Paris climate agreement, adding that the current level of progress is simply “nowhere near enough.”
On Sept. 5, the company stepped up, committing US$1 billion over the next three years to doing its part.
“Mars has been in business for four generations and intends to be for the next four generations,” Grant Reid, the company’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
“The only way that will happen is if we do things differently to ensure that the planet is healthy and all people in our supply chain are thriving. We must work together, because the engine of global business—its supply chain—is broken, and requires transformational, cross-industry collaboration to fix it.”
Mars’ plan will focus on improving the sustainability of its significant supply chain and aims to tackle emissions, poverty and the scarcity of resources.
On the climate change file, Mars says it will make water stewardship and land management a priority. Meanwhile, it aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions across its entire value chain by 67 per cent by 2050.
Another goal of the company’s sustainability plan is improving the lives the approximately one milion people in its supply chain—particularly smallhold farmers.
Mars has not specified how the $1 billion will be spent.
