The largest chocolate maker in the world will deal with climate change.
In order to help in fighting climate change, Mars, the producer of the popular chocolate brands Snickers, Twix, and M&Ms, promised an investment of $1 billion in the next few years. The path towards environmental sustainability includes investment in food sourcing, renewable energy, cross-industry action groups, and farmers.
This company has already made the first steps towards sustainability, by building wind farms in Texas and Scotland that generate enough power necessary for the company’s operations in the U.S. and the U.K. The construction of wind and solar farms by the end of 2018 is announced for nine other countries, as well as some measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 27% by the end of 2025 and 67% by the end of 2050.
Mars’ CEO, Grant Reid, revealed the reasons for this huge investment, explaining that “most scientists are saying there’s less than a 5% chance we will hit Paris agreement goals…which is catastrophic for the planet.” He pointed out that the global supply chain is disrupted and because of that it needs “transformational, cross-industry collaboration” in order to be revived.
With a workforce of over 80, 000 employees all over the world, Mars is dependent on farmer’s production, as it uses their raw materials in the production processes. Because of this, Reid explains that for Mars this investment is much more than just the right thing to do. According to him it will also be beneficial for the business.
Mars’ Chief Sustainability Officer, Barry Parkin, explained that if they don’t take some proactive measures, “more extreme weather events… causing significant challenges and hardships in specific places around the world, whether that’s oceans rising or crops not growing successfully” will follow. He also pointed out that they
“believe in the scientific view of climate science and the need for collective action.”
Consequently, Mars was among the companies that signed a letter in June suggesting President Trump not to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. This “Sustainability in a Generation” plan was announced just before the UN General Assembly and Climate Week that took place in New York. According to Reid, this announcement could act as a stimulus for other countries to join the battle against climate change.
Mars as a company with an estimated worth of $35 billion, plans to send the message through a M&Ms advertising campaign including mascots with windmills.
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