Climate Action Position Statement
Our Current Progress
Achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 is our goal as a purpose-driven company, and an opportunity for Mars to build a better, more resilient business for tomorrow. The consequences of a changed and destabilized climate are as challenging for individuals and society as they are for business. Reaching net zero delivers on our commitment to all stakeholders in our value chain that "the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today.” We must act immediately and decisively to help limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius as outlined in the UNFCCC Paris Agreement.
Companies must be judged, Mars included, on the actual results we deliver against our climate plans, not just the scale of the commitment we make –just as we are judged by our boards and investors on the delivery of financial results, not the quality of our financial forecasts. You can learn more about our current performance and plans in our Net Zero Roadmap and Sustainable in a Generation Report1.
Figure 1. Commitment and Performance Summary
| Commitment compared to 2015 | 2015 emissions (tCO2e) | 2023 emissions (tCO2e) | 2024 emissions (tCO2e) |
| Reduce emissions of our full value chain (Scopes 1, 2, and 3) | |||
| -27% by 2025 | 33.4mt | 28.6mt -14.5% compared to 2015 | 27.9mt -16.4% compared to 2015 |
| -50% by 2030 | |||
| -80% by 2050 | |||
| Reduce Scopes 1 and 2 emissions | |||
| -42% by 2025 | 1.7mt | 1.2 mt -32.2% compared to 2015 | 1.1mt -33.5% compared to 2015 |
| -63% by 2030 | |||
| -90% by 2040 | |||
Our Net Zero Commitment
When it comes to addressing the climate crisis, Mars takes the long view. While we must take immediate action, this is a challenge that will take generations to address and manage. We have established several long-term targets to help us decarbonize our business and do our part in the global effort to mitigate global warming, supported by near-term milestones.
Figure 2. Roadmap to Achieving Net Zero by 2050
We are committed to achieving our goal of Net Zero by 2050. As much potential as there is to reduce emissions in our value chain, it is widely recognized (e.g., by the IPCC, SBTi and others) that there will be a small fraction of residual emissions that can’t be solved for in our value chain. Our Net Zero target validated by the SBTi is composed of an 80% reduction in value chain emissions and 20% neutralization.
Progress of this magnitude requires the transformation of our business and changes across our entire value chain. While we expect challenges, we have the ideas, resources and commitment to succeed. The reductions are built into our business planning and the rolling five year strategic plans that each of our business segments set. Mars follows the Five Net Zero Fundamentals, an approach we developed to eliminate GHG emissions from our entire value chain as quickly and effectively as possible. We created this after years of collaboration with others in the NGO and business communities. Because no single organization can stop the climate crisis, we hope that other organizations will consider using this approach and strengthen it further.
Figure 3. Five Net Zero Fundamentals
The Five Net Zero Fundamentals
The Mars Net Zero Roadmap includes five fundamentals for achieving net zero by 2050:
( 1 ) Include all emissions across the value chain
( 2 ) Prioritize performance over promises
( 3 ) Mark progress with milestones
( 4 ) Remember that some decisions today reverberate tomorrow
( 5 ) Cover residual emissions with high quality carbon removal credits by 2050
Emissions Reductions
The SBTi has verified Mars’ net-zero science-based target by 2050 to cut value chain emissions 80% by 2050. The proportion of energy and industrial emissions and forest, land and agriculture emissions in our portfolio leads to our target to reduce our emissions 80% by 2050. In support of our reduction targets, we will also be accountable for targets approved by the SBTi using their latest guidance on absolute reductions for energy and industrial emissions and for Forest, Land and Agricultural (FLAG) emissions.
Our near-term goals are to cut our value chain emissions 27% by 2025 and 50% by 2030.
Included within our full value chain emissions targets, we have set a goal to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions 42% by 2025, 63% by 2030 and 90% by 2040, in line with what science says is necessary to keep global warming below 1.5°C. To make that a reality, we are committed to 100% renewable energy target (both electricity and thermal) in our operations by 2040.
Further details about Mars Science Based Targets can be found on the SBTi website(Opens a new window). As new climate science emerges and target-setting standards evolve, we will set future five-year interim targets (e.g., 2035) accordingly.
Neutralizing Residual Emissions
For the expected 20% of emissions that we are unable to abate by 2050, we will begin using high-quality carbon removal credits to “net” those emissions down to net zero in 2050.
To support long-term scale up of carbon removals, the business has partnered with 13 other companies and investors to help create the 3rd Livelihoods Carbon Fund (LCF3). The company’s investment in the €159M fund through 2046 will support carbon reduction projects coupled with strong social and economic impact for local communities. LCF3 is aiming to improve the lives of 2 million people and will invest in large-scale projects to promote sustainable farming practices and restore natural ecosystems. In return, those involved – including Danone, Chanel, McCain Foods, and L’OCCITANE Group – will receive an estimated 18 million carbon credits over the duration of the fund.
Our Roadmap to halve emissions by 2030
To pursue 2030 reductions, we’re making major investments in six key areas.
- Transitioning to 100% renewable energy – We are rapidly transitioning towards renewable electricity sources to accelerate emissions reduction. In our operations, efficiency improvements and renewable electricity will continue to play pivotal roles in our path to 2030. A significant challenge lies in transitioning our thermal energy demands to renewable sources, which is underway and will be crucial in our emission reduction efforts. In our upstream and downstream value chains, we have published our approach to Renewables Acceleration, a strategy to more than triple our renewables demand by 2030 by procuring renewables for Scope 3 electricity use.
- Redesigning our supply chains to stop deforestation – We’re accelerating our efforts to stop deforestation and conversion of natural ecosystems in our supply chains identified as most at risk for driving deforestation: beef, cocoa, palm oil, pulp and paper and soy. We will achieve this by only sourcing these raw materials from suppliers that demonstrate compliance with our deforestation-free principles. Learn more about our commitment to Deforestation & Conversion Free supply chains.
- Scaling up initiatives in climate smart agriculture – Agricultural emissions remain one of our most significant challenges. Mars supports many projects that incorporate climate-smart agricultural practices, defined in this context as practices that led to the reduction of GHG emissions, regenerated soil, or both, across our supply chain. By implementing alternative water management techniques in rice farming and improved manure management in livestock, we are driving meaningful reductions in agricultural GHG emissions. By enhancing soil health, improving water quality and supporting resilient supply chains, climate-smart agriculture aligns with broader sustainability strategy and climate goals at Mars.
- Optimizing recipes – We’re innovating to source the best ingredients in the most climate-friendly way. While changing product formulation can be challenging because there are many relevant constraints (e.g., consumer perception, regulatory standards and nutritional requirements), there are opportunities to further optimize and drive development of novel ingredients and production practices to further lower GHGs. A key lever in reducing our GHG footprint is reformulating our pet food recipes, making switches to lower carbon intensity ingredients without compromising on nutritional value or palatability. We are also exploring research and development projects to identify new and innovative ingredients that could reduce our footprint and are nutritious for pets, such as micro-algae and insect proteins.
- Improving and optimizing logistics – Mars launched the Sustainable in a Generation for Logistics (SiG4L) program to move towards decarbonizing transportation across our supply chain by optimizing logistics networks, adopting alternative fuels and shifting freight to lower-emission transport modes like rail and sea. A key milestone was the SiG4L Playbook, a global resource providing best practices and strategies to reduce emissions and improve freight efficiency, with pilot programs showing potential for significant carbon reduction.
- Improving packaging – As a global business with a diverse portfolio of snacking, food and pet care products, we know packaging plays an important role in ensuring we can bring our products safely to consumers worldwide. At Mars, we want to help create a world where packaging material doesn’t become waste or negatively impact nature – what once was considered waste is instead reused, recycled or composted. We are assessing the local market waste and recycling infrastructure and developing packaging solutions that are fit for purpose in the region in which they are sold, and most importantly, minimize impact to nature. Many of the design and material changes we make in service of that goal – such as the use of recycled content – can contribute to our GHG objectives. In addition, there are opportunities in process efficiency and wide deployment of renewable electricity in our packaging value chain that can step-change our results through 2030 and beyond.
Read more about our actions in the Mars Net Zero Roadmap(Opens a new window).
We anticipate that the hardest part of the value chain reductions on the way to net zero will be the reductions from 2030 to 2050. Today, there are significant barriers to solving for those emissions – including cost, feasibility, and a variety of regulatory challenges. Recognizing the role of science and innovation to meet the challenges ahead, Mars announced the Mars Sustainability Investment Fund (MSIF) with a total capital commitment of up to $250 million. The business plans to deploy capital across investment funds and direct investments. MSIF is focused on the following areas:
- Advanced Agriculture: technologies that reduce the emissions associated with agricultural inputs in our products
- Innovative Ingredients and Raw Materials: lower emission or “better-for-you” alternatives to existing ingredients used in our products
- Next Generation Packaging: designing for circularity to fit local needs, with a focus on recyclable formats where recycling infrastructure exists, and paper, home-compostable or format alternatives that have value to the informal waste sector in regions where waste and recycling infrastructure do not exist
MSIF will catalyze the next generation of solutions that may not yet be ready for direct integration in our value chains.
Our theory of change
Climate change has important implications throughout our value chain. We release carbon dioxide and other GHGs into the atmosphere when we consume energy from fossil fuels whether in our factories and operations, in the multiple stages of transport and processing of raw materials, on the farms that grow crops used to produce our raw materials, or in the production of farm inputs. Emissions are also produced from land use change before crops are grown, and emissions from the land during crop production. When those same farmers grow crops to produce our raw materials, the plants sequester carbon, which under the right conditions can also increase the carbon stocks in the land. This carbon cycle for agriculture is central to our share of climate impacts and our opportunities to reduce them. Our theory of change is that by employing strategies to reduce emissions and sequester carbon within our value chain, while exploring opportunities to invest in carbon sequestration activities outside our value chain, we can contribute to society achieving net zero at a global scale.
The framework below (Figure 4) explains how we approach work in our value chains in alignment with the SBTi’s definition of net zero. By focusing on actions within our value chain and associated with clear, measurable emissions reductions, and by sequestering carbon in our value chains, we can make significant progress toward our GHG reduction targets. Concurrently, we can build up the pipeline of projects to allow us to neutralize our residual emissions in the future, as required by SBTi’s Net Zero framework.
Figure 4.
Requiring full physical traceability would be an enormous obstacle to taking voluntary action on climate as well as on other sustainability issues that occur in complex, multi-tier global supply chains. Physical traceability is not feasible in the vast majority of Mars’ supply chains, but we should not let this prevent us from taking action to reduce our Scope 3 emissions. Mars contributes to innovation for solutions to this challenge, such as participating in the Value Change Initiative and publishing our approach to Renewables Acceleration. We support well managed mitigation approaches associated with our value chain, such as market-based instruments, mass balance, and supply shed interventions that focus on actions that affect processes that are in our emissions accounting and occur in the supply shed or country of sourcing. In a well-managed system, these approaches enable us to support mitigation based on our share of emissions from a particular product, account using inventory methods, and avoid double-counting with carbon credit markets. Our approach is consistent with a future world in which more buyers are participating in GHG reduction projects on the raw materials they purchase. This approach ensures that we can take action now in ways that help activate our business – from R&D, to procurement, to supply chain – around reducing the footprint of the products we buy.
Governance
In addition to planning, we have a multilayered governance system in place to help ensure those plans turn into performance. Learn more in our latest Sustainable in a Generation Report.
Data & Reporting
Measuring progress is an important part of our net zero journey. However, with GHG accounting still in its infancy, we are working with the climate community to continuously develop rules, standards, data sets and expertise. While the challenge of measuring Scope 3 can result in the exclusion of some or all these emissions from a corporate climate program, Mars believes that all GHG emissions can and should be estimated.
When we started our climate journey in 2007, making those estimates was challenging with the limited data and tools available. As our knowledge base, expertise, availability of external expertise and tools continues to grow, we are getting better at making these estimates. Unlike financial accounting, all value chain GHG accounting is based on estimates and modeling. While sales revenue shows up as a deposit in a bank account, GHG emissions are almost never directly measured. We measure business activities (kilowatt-hours of electricity, kilometers driven, kilogram of fertilizer, volumes of product purchased, etc.) and then multiply by relevant emissions factors to calculate the associated GHG emissions. Those emissions factors are based on measurements and modeling—which are improving all the time. We believe nothing drives faster improvement in data quality than making the number matter by tying it to your targets.
We use the Greenhouse Gas Protocol(Opens a new window) to calculate and report our emissions in each source category, with the best available data. For categories with a larger share of our total emissions, we have invested additional effort in securing better and more granular data to improve accuracy. As methodologies improve and as our business adds and divests business units, our baseline must be updated to provide a fair and consistent measurement of our footprint, in alignment with guidance from the GHG Protocol and other standards. Learn more about our approach to Baseline Restatement here. We will continue to invest in the collective development of better methods and data availability and work with our suppliers to apply a better understanding of their emissions to drive reductions.
Since 2013, Mars has published a GHG emissions inventory annually through CDP(Opens a new window).
See our Sustainability Reports.
1. The “About This Report” section of the linked SiG Report is incorporated herein by reference.