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PepsiCo, looking ahead with its pep+ programme, gets ready

Posted on February 16, 2023February 16, 2023 by dishanth

In this interview with Roberta Barberi, Vice President, Global Water and Environmental Solutions, we hear about what PepsiCo is doing to adapt sustainably
For our readership, can you please explain what the new initiative PepsiCo Positive (pep+) is?

PepsiCo Positive (pep+) launched in 2021 and is our business transformation strategy that puts both sustainability and human capital at the center of everything we do. It is a holistic program that is shifting how we create growth and shared value for our stakeholders and shareholders, driving action across three main pillars: Positive Agriculture, which is focused on sourcing crops and ingredients in ways that restore the earth and farming communities; Positive Value Chain, which is helping to build a circular and inclusive value chain; and Positive Choices, which is inspiring people to make choices that create more smiles for themselves and the planet.

What prompted this new program and what do you hope to get out of it?

The threat of climate change is very real and we are already seeing the impacts on our business. We are a company built on agriculture and reliant on a steady supply of crops. We are already seeing growing conditions for the farmers we work with become more challenged due to climate change. We need to mitigate that impact and also build resilience for the future.

We also know consumers are demanding more of companies and have a growing interest in where the brands they buy come from and in ensuring they are sustainably produced. This presents opportunities for a company like PepsiCo as we have over one billion consumption moments a day and can play a key role in bringing consumers choice around the brands they buy.

What are some problems PepsiCo has with its suppliers in a way that makes the production process relatively unsustainable?

There are three main challenges when we think of Scope 3 and our supply base:

Capability and capacity: Outside of some of our large suppliers, there is a broad need across our supply chain for more education and capacity building to address climate change.
Technological unlocks and access to resources: achieving our goals will require our value chain partners to deploy new technologies. Some of these technologies are still on the horizon or in early stages of commercialization, requiring further investment and testing before scaling up.
Data management and sharing: as our value chain partners take action, they will need to report on progress. Data sharing is a challenge that we are working through as it has to be simple yet reliable and needs to be digitized and automated.

What are some of the programs that PepsiCo has implemented to support its suppliers?

We are working with farmers to drive the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices. To support this ambition we have launched the Positive Agriculture Playbook, which helps farmers set, achieve and report their own regenerative agriculture and climate goals. We are also financing innovation through a Positive Agriculture Outcomes Fund, providing a unique way to reduce the risk and cost of projects.
We are requiring our suppliers to set a Science Based Target on climate and to shift to renewable electricity. To help with that transition we have created pep+REnew, which provides resources to help suppliers better understand renewable electricity purchasing and jointly invest in renewable energy projects through group power purchase agreements.

With pep+ in place, and assuming it is effective, where does PepsiCo hope to be in the next five years?

We have set ambitious goals for our business to reach by 2030 across all three pillars of our pep+ initiative. A few of those goals include:

Positive Agriculture: Spreading the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices across 7 Million acres, approximately equal to our entire agricultural footprint around the world
Positive Value Chain: Reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions across our direct operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 75% and our indirect value chain (Scope 3) by 40% (against a 2015 baseline)
Positive Choices: Develop and deploy disruptive and sustainable packaging solutions, such as bio-and paper-based packaging and reusable/no packaging options
Our vision is to be the global leader in beverages and convenient foods by winning with pep+ and using our global reach and expertise to drive solutions at scale.

Source edible

China and the US announce plan to work together on cutting emissions

Posted on November 11, 2021 by dishanth

China and the US announced a surprise plan to work together on cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the crucial next decade, in a strong boost to the Cop26 summit, as negotiators wrangled over a draft outcome.

The world’s two biggest emitters had been trading insults for the first week of the conference, but on Wednesday evening unveiled a joint declaration that would see the world’s two biggest economies cooperate closely on the emissions cuts scientists say are needed in the next 10 years to stay within 1.5C.

The remarkable turnaround came as a surprise to the UK hosts, and will send a strong signal to the 190-plus other countries at the talks. China and the US will work together on some key specific areas, such as cutting methane – a powerful greenhouse gas – and emissions from transport, energy and industry.

“Both sides recognise that there is a gap between the current effort and the Paris agreement goals, so we will jointly strengthen our Paris efforts and cooperation … to accelerate a green and low carbon transition,” said Xie Zhenhua, China’s head of delegation. “Climate change is becoming an increasingly urgent challenge. We hope this joint declaration will help to achieve success at Cop26.”

Speaking at a virtual business conference on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, President Xi Jinping did not mention the deal directly but said “all of us can embark on a path of green, low-carbon sustainable development”.

“Together, we can usher in a future of green development,” he said.

John Kerry said: “The two largest economies in the world have agreed to work together on emissions in this decisive decade.

“This is a roadmap for our countries and future collaboration. China and the US have no shortage of differences. But cooperation is the only way to get this job done. This is about science, about physics.”

He told the conference: “This declaration is a step that we can build on to close the gap [between the emissions cuts set out so far and those needed]. Every step matters. We have a long journey ahead of us.”

Kerry compared the cooperation with China with the agreements by the US to reduce nuclear weapon arsenals in the cold war. “You have to look beyond differences sometimes to find a way forward.”

Just saw John Kerry sitting down with Xie Zhenhua. Fingers crossed that chief negotiators of worlds two biggest emitters 🇨🇳🇺🇸 can work together and nudge the world closer to 1.5C climate target.

— jonathanwatts (@jonathanwatts) November 4, 2021

The China-US Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s came despite growing political tensions between the two powers, which had been reflected in the climate talks. In his parting shot at the conference, Joe Biden on Tuesday slammed China’s president, Xi Jinping, for “not showing up”. After that, Xie took a swipe at the US in an interview with the Guardian, saying: “We are not like some countries who withdrew from the Paris agreement after entering into talks.”

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, welcomed the agreement: “Tackling the climate crisis requires international cooperation and solidarity, and this is an important step in the right direction.”

The announcement followed a call by developing countries for rich nations to come forward with more financial help for vulnerable countries, saying a new draft outcome for the talks was too weak in this regard.

The draft text, published early on Wednesday morning by the UK as president of the talks, set out the probable outcome of the Cop26 talks, including a potential requirement for countries to return to the negotiating table next year to beef up their national plans on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The text also set out the scientific case for limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, and expressed “alarm” that emissions were far higher than the levels needed to stay within safe temperature thresholds.

But poor countries said the text needed more emphasis on climate finance, to help them cut carbon and cope with the impacts of climate breakdown.

Aubrey Webson, chair of the Alliance of Small Islands States, which represents 37 of the most at-risk countries, said: “The text provides a basis for moving forward but it needs to be strengthened in key areas in order to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable, particularly on finance. We won’t get the ambition on emissions we need for 1.5C if we don’t scale up the provision of finance, and this includes the long overdue recognition of a separate and additional component for loss and damage.”

He added that the language was too weak: “‘Urging’, ‘calling’, ‘encouraging’ and ‘inviting’ is not the decisive language that this moment calls for. We have limited time left in the Cop to get this right and send a clear message to our children, and the most vulnerable communities, that we hear you and we are taking this crisis seriously.”

Bruce Bilimon, minister of health for the Marshall Islands, part of the High Ambition Coalition made up of developed and developing countries, added: “We need a comprehensive Glasgow package to build and reinforce trust between developed and developing states.”

Other developing countries told the Guardian that clearer commitments were needed to force countries to ratchet up their emissions cuts.

The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, made a flying visit to Glasgow on Wednesday, where he warned delegates that failure to reach an effective agreement would bring an “immense” and well-deserved backlash from around the globe.

Johnson called for “a determined push to get us over the line” – and said some countries had not done enough to achieve this. Leaders not in Glasgow needed to “pick up the phone to their teams here and give them the negotiating margin, give them the space they need in which to manoeuvre and get this done”, he said.

Johnson criticised – but did not name – some countries for “conspicuously patting themselves on the back” for signing up to the Paris climate accord but doing too little at Cop.

“The world will find it absolutely incomprehensible if we fail to deliver [a good outcome]. And the backlash from people will be immense and it will be long-lasting, and frankly we will deserve their criticism and their opprobrium.”

Source The Guardian

Rishi Sunak could set out green taxes for imports to help UK hit net-zero target

Posted on July 13, 2021 by dishanth

Ministers are drawing up plans to impose carbon taxes on imports from abroad as part of efforts to hit Britain’s net-zero target by 2050, i understands.

The proposals emerged as a “civil war” broke out between ministers over the best way to ensure the public pays for the carbon emissions they produce.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to lay out new carbon taxes this autumn to help the country meet its obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while also raising money to repair public finances damaged by Covid.

Among the proposals being looked at is a carbon border adjustment tax, which will slap levies on goods arriving from abroad. Such taxes aim to prevent wealthy countries such as the UK from outsourcing their carbon emissions to the developing world – known as “carbon leakage”.

One minister told i: “Carbon border adjustment tax is definitely in the mix. Eventually people will have to tackle the question of consumption – they are going to need to decide if they are willing to consume less stuff imported from China or not.”

For any domestic industry that has a carbon price placed on it, the same price would be placed on imports to prevent cheaper goods flooding the market.

Which products would be targeted has not been undecided, but the EU’s plans for carbon levies on imports will focus initially on the most carbon-intensive sectors, such oil refineries, steel and other metals, and cement.

The measures are under consideration ahead of the UK hosting the COP26 UN Climate Change Council in November. Experts have warned that the Government currently has an “alphabet soup” of carbon taxes and urgently needs to fill the policy vacuum ahead of the meeting in Glasgow.

With the UK welcoming world leaders to COP26, the Chancellor will have little choice but to spell out plans for environmental taxes in an autumn Budget and Comprehensive Spending Review.

Westminster sources said, however, that any move towards a carbon border tax would have to consider the implications it would have with major trading partners, such as the US, and how problematic it would be for post-Brexit Britain to go out and strike trade deals.

Ministers are increasingly at odds over the best way to ensure the public pays for the carbon emissions they produce, with the Treasury in a stand-off with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and No 10.

One source said: “There is a civil war raging between departments as to how the Government can meet its commitments.”

i understands Mr Sunak is pushing for a simpler carbon pricing approach, which would set baseline prices according to which sectors carbon emissions are coming from, while Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is eager to focus on regulation.

Boris Johnson is keenly aware he needs to lead the way on the issue, but “the PM likes to spend money more than he likes to tax people”, as one well-placed source put it.

What has become clear is that the burden of who will pay for carbon emissions is shifting from the corporate sector to consumers.

It is widely accepted that petrol and gas will become more expensive, and the idea of taxes on meat and dairy products have also been floated. At the same time, the Government’s attempts to persuade people to upgrade their homes to make them more energy-efficient have largely failed.

There is a growing recognition that ministers will have to do more to allow people to make greener decisions. One Whitehall source said that the Government was “looking at ways to help ‘fuel-poor’ families and incentivise a switch to low-carbon heating”.

A minister said that the Government may end up introducing new rules to speed up the retrofitting of old homes, if existing incentives do not prove enough. They told i: “Retrofitting is really hard. One option is that we could say that old houses have to be redone every time they go on the market, or every time they’re bought.

“But eventually, you’ll probably find that people just don’t want to live in draughty homes anyway.”

Experts have warned, however, that the Government can only hope to raise taxes to generate much-needed funds, while nudging people towards more environmentally friendly choices if there are “viable alternatives”.

Rachel Wolf, Founding Partner of policy institute Public First and co-author of the Conservatives’ 2019 election manifesto, said it suggests why a “meat tax” is a long way off.

“Agriculture and certainly meat will be the very last thing they price,” Ms Wolf said. “The problem the Government has is if they want to take people with them to reach net zero, they will have to make the costs bearable and there have to be viable alternatives right now, as there could be with electric cars. Telling people to just eat less meat is not viable.”

Source i News

Investors Worth $5 Trillion Set Major Emissions Reduction Targets

Posted on October 29, 2020 by dishanth

Thirty of the world’s largest investors, who together control $5 trillion in assets, have pledged to cut the greenhouse gas emissions of their portfolios by as much as 29 percent in five years.

The investors, who include Allianz, the Church of England and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, are all part of the UN convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance. The group formed in 2019 with the goal of reducing the emissions of their investment portfolios to net zero by 2050 and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. On the road to that goal, the group announced their 2025 Target Setting Protocol Tuesday, which includes the goal to reduce emissions across members’ portfolios by 16 to 29 percent of 2019 levels by 2025.

“According to the UNEP Emissions Gap Report, every year of postponed emissions peak means that deeper and faster cuts will be required,” UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative leader Eric Usher said in a press release. “The Target-Setting Protocol represents world-leading progress on the required emissions reductions from some of the biggest investors in the world.”

To reach their goal, the investors will pinpoint the 20 companies most responsible for their portfolios’ emissions, The Guardian explained. They will also set specific targets for highly emitting sectors like oil and gas, transport and utilities.

Some financial institutions have acted on the climate crisis by divesting entirely from certain companies or refusing to fund certain ventures. For example, Norway’s largest private asset manager divested in August from companies that lobby against climate action or make more than five percent of their revenue from coal or oil sands. The Net-Zero Asset Owners Alliance, however, takes a different approach, seeking instead to engage with the companies it invests in in order to push the overall economy towards a just transition to renewable energy.

“Although decarbonization of portfolios could be easily achieved by selling carbon intensive investments, it is highly questionable if such actions alone would have a positive impact on the real economy,” the group explained in the press release. “Additionally, it might undermine Alliance members ability to engage with these [companies] to effect reductions in the real economy.”

Part of that engagement means encouraging companies to share regular reports on their climate actions and to craft plans to green their business, according to The Guardian. The alliance itself will also release yearly reports, and plans to grow its membership to 200 or the assets under its control to $25 trillion.

“Alliance members start out by changing themselves and then reach out to various companies to work on the change of their businesses,” Alliance Chair Günther Thallinger, who serves on the board of management for Allianz SE, said in the press release. “Reaching net-zero is not simply reducing emissions and carrying on with the business models of today. There are profound changes and opportunities that will come from the net-zero economy, we see new business opportunities and strong wins for those who are ready to lead.”

The alliance is part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC’s) broader Race to Zero campaign, in which cities, companies and investors work to increase the number of entities that have committed to net-zero emissions by 2050 or earlier, Business Green reported. The plan is to have as many as possible commit before the next major UN climate summit, the delayed COP26.

By Olivia Rosane

Source: EcoWatch