F&B companies awarded for tackling emissions

THE CDP, a non-profit global environmental disclosure platform says more companies are now engaging their supply chain partners in tackling emissions.

The number of ‘Supplier Engagement’ leaders has grown from 29 in 2017 to 58 in 2018, according to the new CDP research backed by analysis from McKinsey & Company.

The firm duly recognised these 58 companies out of over 3,3000 a spot on its annual Supplier Engagement leader board. From the food and beverage industry, Ajinomoto, Unilever, Kellogg Company, and Nestlé, were leading in their efforts to reduce emissions and lower environmental risks in the supply chain.

The leaders are announced as more companies look at water security in their supply chains – leading to a 15% rise in suppliers disclosing water data to their customers through CDP in 2017. From the F&B space, McDonald’s is among the first to work with CDP to tackle deforestation in their supply chains.

Ajinomoto, the Japanese food, chemicals and pharmaceuticals corporation worked with a key supplier to become the only company worldwide to sell drinks in 100% recycled heat-resistant PET bottles, reducing the use of virgin plastics from fossil fuels by around 2,000 tonnes a year.

The global food company Kellogg Company operates its Origins™ program across 21 countries, supporting around 294,000 farmers to become more sustainable and build resilience to the impacts of climate change.

For the second time, Nestlé made it to the roster, which is no surprise since the company has committed to showing climate change leadership as part of its goal of enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future.

“Delivering on the ambitions of the Paris Agreement will require businesses to play a key role to reduce emissions, manage water resources and limit deforestation within their operations and their supply chains,” commented Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, who has written the foreword in the report.

“I am pleased to see that an ever-increasing number of companies reporting to CDP are integrating sustainability-thinking into their business models and applaud the members of the CDP supply chain program for being pioneers in this regard. I encourage businesses to work with suppliers to raise ambition across their supply chain.”

The report – which includes commentary from The Carbon Trust – reveals that this leadership is paying dividends, as awareness of climate change-related risks and opportunities is increasing down the supply chain. Over three quarters (76%) of suppliers responding to CDP have identified some inherent climate change risks to their business and more than half (52%) report that they have integrated climate change into their business strategy.