US – American multinational beverage company PepsiCo has taken its sustainability agenda a notch higher, pledging to achieve net zero emissions by 2040, one decade earlier than called for in the Paris Agreement.
The beverage giant also announced plans to double down on its climate goal and pledged to reduce its absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its value chain by more than 40% by 2030.
This follows a similar move by Coca-Cola European Partners which announced plans to achieve net zero emissions by 2040 and also committed to cut GHG emissions across its value chain by 30% by 2030,
More specifically, PepsiCo plans to reduce absolute GHG emissions across its direct operations by 75% and its indirect value chain by 40% by 2030
The produce or the popular Pepsi soda brand says that achieving net zero emissions is expected to reduce more than 26 million metric tons of GHG emissions.
In order to decarbonise its operations and supply chain, PepsiCo says it will focus on areas such as agriculture, packaging, distribution and operations.
In terms of agriculture – which accounts for approximatelyone third of PepsiCo’s emissions – PepsiCo plans to further scale its sustainable agriculture and regenerative practices, as well as continue to work on improved soil health and biodiversity, decreased deforestation, and increased productivity for farmers.
As part of its packaging efforts, PepsiCo says it will continue to reduce virgin plastic use and increase recycled content.
Meanwhile, more and more PepsiCo brands are being manufactured using renewable energy including Lay’s, Quaker and Tropicana.
Last year, the company met its target to source 100% renewable electricity in the US and upped its aim to source 100% renewable electricity across all of its company-owned and -controlled operations globally by 2030.
The 100% transition to renewable energy is expected to be spread across its entire franchise and third-party operations by 2040.
PepsiCo expects to fully transition its direct electricity needs to renewable sources in Mexico and Australia this year, which will bring its total number of countries doing so to 15.
“Our climate ambition is at the very heart of accelerating our global sustainability progress, and we are using our scale and reach to build a more sustainable and regenerative global food system,” said Jim Andrew, chief sustainability officer at PepsiCo.
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