Nestle To Spend $3.6 Billion Over Next 5 Yrs To Cut Carbon Footprint

Swiss Food company and drink major Nestle on Thursday said it would invest around USD 3.6 billion over the next five years to cut greenhouse gas emissions across its manufacturing locations.

The company is taking measures to halve its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emission by 2050, even as the company grows.

As per the road map, Nestle will switch to 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2025 and support farmers and suppliers to advance regenerative agriculture, planting hundreds of millions of trees within the next 10 years.

Additionally, Nestle is continuously increasing the number of carbon neutral brands, said Vevey, Switzerland-based company.

"The company expects to invest a total of CHF 3.2 billion (USD 3.6 bn) over the next five years to accelerate our work, including CHF 1.2 billion (USD 1.35 bn) to spark regenerative agriculture across the company's supply chain," said Nestle CEO Mark Schneider.

These investments will be financed primarily through operational and structural efficiencies to keep this initiative earnings neutral, he added.

In its operations, Nestle expects to complete the transition of its 800 sites in the 187 countries where it operates to 100 per cent renewable electricity within the next five years.

"The company is switching its global fleet of vehicles to lower emission options and will reduce and offset business travel by 2022," it said.

While, within its product portfolio, Nestle is expanding its offering of plant-based food and beverages and is reformulating products to make them more environment friendly.

It is increasing the number of "carbon neutral" brands to the fight against climate change.

Nestle is already working with over 5 lakh farmers and 1.5 lakh suppliers to support them in implementing regenerative agriculture practices.

"In return, Nestle is offering to reward farmers by purchasing their goods at a premium, buying bigger quantities and co-investing in necessary capital expenditures. Nestle expects to source over 14 million tonnes of its ingredients through regenerative agriculture by 2030, boosting demand for such goods," it said.

Nestle India Chairman and Managing Director Suresh Narayanan said the company is accelerating efforts towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions across its manufacturing locations and transport of goods.

The company is looking to achieve 100 per cent recyclable or reusable packaging by 2025.

"At Nestle India, we have been accelerating our actions towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions across our manufacturing locations and transport of goods. Our ambition is to achieve 100 per cent recyclable or reusable packaging by 2025.We are working towards shaping a waste-free future and driving new behaviour," said Narayanan.

Nestle India, a subsidiary of Nestle SA of Switzerland, operates eight factories in India. Recently, it had announced its plans to invest Rs 2,600 crore further into in India over the next three to four years.

The investment would be on expansion on the existing units and towards the construction of its new upcoming unit as Sanand, Gujarat.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor