Plenty of big companies have announced sustainability commitments (and progress) in light of the Paris climate agreement and U.N. Sustainable Development targets.
Few have openly put a pricetag on what the pledges cost. With its $1 billion commitment, candy manufacturer Mars aims to reduce its carbon footprint by 60% by 2050.
Barry Parkin, Mars’ chief sustainability officer, told Business Insider that he doesn’t think collective effort on “the big issues” is moving fast enough. “You have to completely change the way you operate your business and you have to completely change how you source your products,” he said.
$1 billion represents about 3% of Mars’ sales last year. It will go to building wind farms and increasing its renewable energy capacity, and towards improving sustainable sourcing in its supply chain — fish and cocoa in particular.
