The Sustainability Year in Stories: November 2024

January 03, 2025

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Grant Sprick, VP of Climate & Environment at Ahold Delhaize | Credit: The Consumer Goods Forum

We look at the articles that made the news in 2024. Today, it is November's turn, featuring PepsiCo, Unilever and Ahold Delhaize

PepsiCo & Unilever: New Standards to Slash Scope 3 Emissions

The Consumer Goods Forum's (CGF) Towards Net Zero Coalition, comprised of 26 market leading companies, has unveiled its newest targets for supply chain sustainability.

This initiative, announced as world leaders convene at COP29, represents a concerted effort by organisations including PepsiCo, Unilever and Ahold Delhaize.

The purpose is to address the looming challenge of Scope 3 emissions, the form of emissions which figure most prominently across all industries, businesses and value chains.

Setting a new standard for supply chain sustainability

What exactly is the significance of the CGF's new sustainability targets? The coalition's newest strategy comes at a critical juncture for the consumer goods sector, which is facing mounting pressure to reduce its environmental footprint amidst growing consumer awareness and the scrutiny of regulators.

Grant Sprick, VP of Climate & Environment at Ahold Delhaize, is keen to emphasise the significance of this development.

"By introducing these new targets, we are establishing a much-needed suite of supplier expectations that will help address Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions across the supply chain," he says.

"This is a critical step toward making the supply chain more resilient."

Flexibility meets consistency

A key feature of the framework is its flexibility, allowing companies to tailor their approach while maintaining a unified front. This adaptability is crucial in an industry characterised by diverse product lines and complex global supply chains.

"The flexibility of these targets is key," says Archana Jagannathan, CSO of PepsiCo Europe.

"It allows businesses to tailor their approach, making sure that the most relevant sustainability issues are prioritised, while maintaining the momentum to drive sector-wide change."

Archana Jangannathan, CSO for Europe at PepsiCo | Credit: PepsiCo

Are We Finally Going to Get a Global Plastics Treaty?

A battalion of big businesses has lined up to demand definitive global plastics regulations, not a voluntary treaty, as five weeks of negotiations comes to a close in South Korea.

Negotiations on a UN treaty to end plastic pollution are entering their fifth and final planned stage at Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee-5 in Busan.

Unilever is among many businesses that are lobbying for certainty, not guidelines that can be avoided.

Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher said: “Fragmented, slow and costly… or coordinated, fast and cost effective? This is the choice governments have in Busan when they meet to finalise the plastics treaty at INC-5.

“Either a voluntary treaty that will lead to further regulatory fragmentation, causing additional cost and complexity to business.

“Or a treaty underpinned by global rules – one that harmonises regulations and supports business to unlock solutions to plastic pollution at the scale and speed we urgently require.

“Business needs global rules.”

Henkel CEO Carsten Knobel

Lobbying by letter

Unilever co-chairs the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty which aims to give confidence to governments that businesses and financial institutions want harmonised global rules and regulations.

Members of the Coalition, a group of 250+ global businesses, financial institutions and NGOs, wrote to world leaders ahead of the summit.

They said: “A treaty based on voluntary measures alone risks delaying action by decades.

“This would create further fragmentation in the regulatory landscape for business, leading to increased cost and complexity.”

They add: “As business leaders, we are working to transform our business models to catalyse a circular economy in which plastic never becomes waste or pollution, and the value of products and materials is retained in the economy.”

Signatories include: