Snacking, food, and pet care products provider Mars announced today the appointment of Alastair Child as its new Chief Sustainability Officer.

Child takes on the new role after more than 23 years at Mars, including most recently serving as Vice President of Global Sustainability, Mars Snacking, leading the business’ strategy to embed sustainability.

Andy Pharoah, VP Corporate Affairs & Sustainability and member of the Mars Leadership Team said:

“Alastair has established himself as a strong, well-respected leader. He brings a wealth of experience to the role and will play a key part in ensuring sustainability is integrated into every aspect of our business to help us build the world we want tomorrow.”

In his new role, Child will be responsible for developing the company’s overall sustainability agenda, and lead efforts to realize the goals set out in its “Sustainable in a Generation” strategy. Launched in 2017, the strategy focuses on the key pillars “Healthy Planet,” “Thriving People,” and “Nourishing Wellbeing,” with goals including reducing GHG emissions across the value chain by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050, reducing unsustainable water usage and developing packaging that is reusable, recyclable or compostable, improving the lives of 1 million people across the value chain, increasing farmer incomes, and delivering 5.5 billion healthy meals by 2025, among others.

Child will lead a team of 30 sustainability leaders and experts with remits in climate, coral restoration, community, packaging, data and analytics.

Child said:

“It’s an honor to take on this role. With average global temperatures exceeding 1.5 °C above preindustrial levels for the first time in 2024, it is imperative that we continue to perform on our promises and in doing so prove that sustainability is good for business. I look forward to collaborating with our partners, Associates and stakeholders to ensure we continue to grow responsibly.”

The announcement follows the decision by Mars’ outgoing Chief Procurement and Sustainability Officer Barry Parkin to retire after 40 years at the company.