Mars is now tying executive pay to climate goals at it aims to half its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.
In its roadmap, the company unveiled it first linked incentive programmes of its top 350 associates to GHG performance in 2013 based on scope 1 and 2 emissions performance to executive pay to incentivize and ensure accountability of its net zero objectives.
The programme now includes all scopes and in 2022, Mars also included a packaging circularity metric.
“Other factors in this scheme are a measurement of trust as well as economic value creation,” the roadmap stated.
“These compensation incentives directly communicate the importance of reducing our GHG emissions to senior leaders and creates motivation to continue to strengthen the business processes to deliver against our net zero goals,” it continued.
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Investing £800m to drive climate action
The consumer goods giant has also announced it is investing £800 million ($1 billion) over the next three years to drive climate action, focusing on transitioning to 100% renewable energy across its supply chain.
As agriculture and land use make up 65% of its carbon emissions, the company is also planning on redesigning its supply chains to stop deforestation and working with farmers on regenerative agriculture, optimising sourcing, and switching to renewables.
Mars CEO Paul Weihrauch said that although 2050 can seem to be in the “distance future,” the action big corporations take within the next seven years is “critical.”
“That’s why Mars is committed to delivering a 50% reduction in GHG by 2030,” Weihrauch added.
“We cannot wait for the economy to improve; we must push forward with investments that protect our business today and in the future.
“Investing in emissions reductions is sound business policy, it is achievable, affordable, and it is absolutely necessary,” he continued.
Mars backed by science
The 2030 target has been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative from a 2015 baseline.
Chief sustainability and procurement officer Barry Parkin said the company has “always followed science.”
“Science says we must cut our emissions across our full value chain by 50% by 2030,” he continued.
“In preparing our roadmap, we’ve learned that this is both entirely possible to deliver with existing science and technology as well as entirely affordable.”
“I hope our roadmap clearly and powerfully demonstrates what Mars is doing and, critically, what we believe needs to happen at scale to help tackle the worst impacts of climate change,” Parkin added.
