Danone today announced that it has committed to a new climate policy targeting zero net carbon emissions within its full scope, i.e. direct and shared scope of responsibility. To achieve this target, Danone will co-create solutions with its ecosystem, including farming communities, suppliers, customers and consumers. This new climate policy will enable Danone to strengthen the resilience of its global food chain and pave the way for sustainable business growth. Building on the visionary position presented by Antoine Riboud in 1972, the company has continued to expand its dual commitment to business success and social progress, to place environmental issues at the heart of its activities. In 2000, Danone defined both its environmental targets and a 10-year plan. In 2008, it stepped up the pace by announcing a plan to reduce its carbon intensity by 30% over five years on operations within its direct scope of responsibility—an objective it achieved and exceeded at the end of 2012(1) .
The new climate policy announced today goes much further. It concerns not only areas under Danone’s direct responsibility (manufacturing, packaging, logistics, end-of-life), but also areas where the company shares responsibility, especially in agriculture, which represent 65% of total emissions. Danone will thus be tackling the full scope of its carbon footprint, which amounts to 18.8 million tons(2).
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(1) Reduction of Danone’s carbon intensity: -42% (in grams of C02 per kilo of product sold) from 2008 to 2014
(2) Total in 2014
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This new climate policy aims to achieve zero net carbon emissions in the long term, starting with a 50% reduction in carbon intensity between 2015 and 2030. The company also commits to starting to reduce emissions in absolute terms before 2025.
To achieve these targets, Danone’s climate strategy has defined five priorities:
- Reduce the company's full scope carbon emissions • Develop “carbon positive” initiatives to capture carbon in natural ecosystems such as forests, mangroves and soil
- Fully eliminate deforestation impacts from Danone’s supply chain by 2020
- Build resilience into our food and water cycles
- Offer preferred and healthier diet options produced in a resource-efficient way, using sustainably-sourced ingredients
Commenting on this new policy, Emmanuel Faber, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Our activities are directly linked to nature and agriculture. The risks of global warming are high and they affect both the natural cycles on which we depend, and people's living conditions, starting with family farmers and livestock breeders. Today we have decided to go much further and we are adopting another decisive step for a resilient growth model.”
Pascal De Petrini, Executive Vice-President Strategic Resource Cycles, commented: “To help find solutions to this game-changing challenge, we must take global view of the food chain. By viewing carbon as a cycle, we can not only reduce our emissions, but also offer solutions to promote carbon sequestration in soils, forests and mangroves through agricultural practices and ecosystem restoration activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This approach demands continuous improvement to spark innovation and spread best practices. With hands-on pragmatism and small-scale experimentation, we can scale up tools to solve the complex climate change challenges within the food chain.”
To meet its targets, Danone will continue to act as a social innovator, creating new alliances and forms of cooperation to drive change. To manage this journey in the most effective way, Danone uses a state-of-the-art integrated module to measure performance. This carbon module will be rolled out in all Danone subsidiaries by 2020.
