Food and beverage giant Nestlé announced today the release of its ‘time-bound plan,’ outlining specific details on the company’s plans to halve greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 and to achieve net zero by 2050. According to Nestlé, its climate initiatives are focused on advancing regenerative agriculture (improving soil health and maintain and restore diverse ecosystems), planting hundreds of millions of trees within the next 10 years, completing the company’s transition to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2025, and continuously increasing the number of ‘carbon neutral’ brands.

Nestlé Chairman Paul Bulcke said:

“The Board recognizes the strategic importance of taking decisive measures to address climate change. It supports accelerating and scaling up our work to ensure the long-term success of the company and to contribute to a sustainable future for generations to come.”

Nestlé’s time-bound plan provides detailed plans on the key actions the company is taking on its road to net zero, covering initiatives including sourcing ingredients sustainably, transforming the product portfolio, evolving the company’s packaging, using renewable energy to manufacture products, creating a cleaner and leaner logistics network, removing carbon from the atmosphere, and moving towards carbon neutral brands. The company has also pledged to advocate for sustainable practices, working with farmers, suppliers, industry, employees, consumers, governments, NGOs and communities to forge new and deeper levels of engagement on climate issues.

Mark Schneider, Nestlé CEO, said:

“Tackling climate change can’t wait and neither can we. It is imperative to the long-term success of our business. We have a unique opportunity to address climate change, as we operate in nearly every country in the world and have the size, scale and reach to make a difference. We will work together with farmers, industry partners, governments, non-governmental organizations and our consumers to reduce our environmental footprint.”

Magdi Batato, Executive Vice President and Head of Operations, added:

”With nearly two-thirds of our emissions coming from agriculture, it is clear that regenerative agriculture and reforestation are the focal points of our path to net zero. These efforts will reduce emissions and improve biodiversity at scale. We will also continue to eliminate emissions from our operations and make improvements in our product portfolio. We have our work cut out for us and we are committed to delivering.”

Nestlé stated that it expects to invest a total of CHF 3.2 billion over the next five years to accelerate its climate work, including CHF 1.2 billion to spark regenerative agriculture across the company’s supply chain.

The company also stated that it has had its emissions reduction targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), as consistent with levels required to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Nestlé is also a signatory of the UN ‘Business Ambition for 1.5°C’ pledge, a global coalition of UN agencies, business and industry leaders committed to setting ambitious science-based emissions reduction targets.