As we accelerate our commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in our full value chain, both Mars® bars and ROYAL CANIN® will reach carbon neutrality in the next three years.
For chocolate lovers – who buy more than 220 million Mars® bars a year – their treat will come with the added benefit of buying from a business with supercharged climate efforts, a transformed supply chain, improved agricultural practices and drastically decreased deforestation. Mars bars sold in the U.K., Ireland and Canada will be certified as carbon neutral by 2023.
Meanwhile, ROYAL CANIN® has committed to become certified carbon neutral by 2025, with its first product range achieving carbon neutral certification in 2022. As the largest brand at Mars, ROYAL CANIN® represents 50 years of science-backed pet nutrition, and this was a clear next step in their evolution.
“It’s science-led initiatives and decisive action, not just ambition, which will help us hit our 2025 climate target,” says Loic Moutault, President of Royal Canin. “We believe that making this bold carbon-neutral commitment will inspire and mobilize new and impactful ideas, action and results and make a meaningful positive difference to pets, people and the planet.”
The key to each product’s rapid success is in the details: any emissions that cannot be eliminated by our efforts will be offset by high-quality carbon-removal credits. Our use of removals–based credits – which focus on climate solutions like reforestation and land restoration – is aligned with the SBTi (Science Based Targets) Net Zero Foundation.
We’ll work with an independent auditor to certify these brands as carbon neutral and adhere to the PAS 2060 standard for carbon neutrality, widely considered to be the leading standard of carbon neutral specification.
Delivering Carbon Neutral
A carbon-neutral Mars® bar is well on its way to reality thanks to several Mars Wrigley initiatives:
- Reducing carbon footprint from direct operations in the U.K. by 67% since 2015
- Producing Canadian bars in a factory that is certified LEED Silver, sends zero waste to landfill and recaptures heat from operations to heat the building
- Using satellite data to geomap cocoa farms and transform supply chain agricultural practices
- Creating accelerated sustainability partnerships with suppliers – with 100% of U.K. dairy suppliers participating by late 2022 – to include improved feed and low-emission manure application technology
- Removing a million miles from transport over the next year through a new U.K. logistics program
The action areas ROYAL CANIN® will tackle to become carbon neutral by 2025 include:
- Transitioning to 100% renewable electricity from our current 72%
- Procuring sustainable ingredients by reformulating products and switching to low-carbon intensity ingredients, like our 100% ProTerra-certified soy in Europe
- Inviting key suppliers to join our Pledge for Planet initiative, supporting them to set science-based targets and implement plans to drive reductions
- Reducing waste and boosting recyclability, compostability and the use of reusable packaging – including a focus on mono-material packaging and recycled content
- Transforming to a climate-smart business by linking executive pay to delivering emissions cuts, setting an internal price on carbon to generate resources and drive emission reductions, rolling out an Associate ‘Go Green’ upskill program and creating a work environment where innovation and collaboration drive creativity that rises to the climate challenge
“We know that we must continue to make purposeful climate interventions,” says Adam Grant, General Manager, Mars Wrigley U.K. “And we know that to create a world tomorrow where the planet is healthy, we must continue to take bold action. And we will.”
For more information on these brands’ sustainability action, visit https://www.royalcanin.com/uk/about-us/sustainability and https://gbr.mars.com/marslovesearth.
For further information on Mars, Incorporated’s climate commitments and Sustainable in a Generation Plan, visit www.mars.com/sustainability-plan.
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