Mars, in partnership with sustainability consultancy Guidehouse, has formed a new coalition, the Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition (Supplier LoCT), to mobilize suppliers on climate action and accelerate climate action. 

The partnership aims to drive industry-wide movement by providing suppliers with the knowledge, resources and tools to develop their climate plans to reduce their impact on the planet.

In its first year, the program will focus on helping suppliers understand the foundations of greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions in their businesses, including core knowledge of how to calculate their GHG footprints and to set their science-based targets. 

Mars is a founding partner of Supplier LoCT, with global businesses PepsiCo and McCormick also joining and enrolling suppliers to take part.

Future targets
Mars has already made steady progress to cut emissions in its operations by switching to renewables – which now accounts for 54 percent of its global electricity use and is now on track to reach its interim 2025 target early. 

Within the next three years, Mars will have cut over 42 percent of emissions in direct operations (compared to a 2015 baseline), building momentum toward net-zero in direct operations by 2040.

“As the world looks to rebuild from the pandemic, this will be a critical year in altering the trajectory of climate change. It’s never been more vital for global businesses and their suppliers to come together and protect the health of our planet and global communities for generations to come,” explains Barry Parkin, chief procurement and sustainability officer at Mars.

“Mars is making strong progress in cutting emissions in our direct operations and will hit our 2025 target well ahead of our goal. However, with our extended supply chain accounting for over 94 percent of our emissions, it’s crucial we also partner with our suppliers to drive broad transformations and mitigate our collective impact on climate change,” he outlines. 

By forming this partnership and actively engaging its suppliers on sustainability, Parkin hopes Mars can drive “significant, global impact.”

It comes as part of the business’ #PledgeforPlanet initiative launched in 2019, calling on its suppliers to join Mars in setting climate targets in line with the Science based Targets Initiative, signing on to The Climate Group’s RE100 and embracing a future with renewable energy at the center of operations. 

Supply chains
Mars is focused on engaging its largest 200 suppliers to maximize impact and catalyze change through its broader supply chain. 

So far, 23 of its major suppliers have set science-based targets or joined the RE100, and Mars has since engaged another 30 suppliers to set their climate targets or enroll in the Supplier LoCT program.

By actively engaging suppliers on climate action, Mars aims to accelerate progress toward its commitment to reduce GHG emissions across its extended value chain by 27 percent by 2025 and 67 percent by 2050.

“Emissions reductions are now essential, and global supply chains contain some of the most significant and difficult-to-reduce emissions,” says Britt Harter, Guidehouse’s sustainability lead and partner in the firm’s Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure segment. 

“While organizations across the world have made bold commitments to science-based climate reductions, most are struggling to deliver progress, and the clock is ticking. We have joined forces with Mars, McCormick, and PepsiCo to demonstrate our combined leadership and go beyond target setting to drive real action.”

Industry organizations, including The Food Industry Association (FMI) and sustainability nonprofit Ceres, applaud the efforts of Supplier LoCT to convene suppliers on this critical topic.

“Pre-competitive coalitions like this are a critical component to industry progress toward science-based targets,” notes Marjorie DePuy, senior director, supply chain and sustainability at FMI. 

“Every company’s supply chain practices are important in the drive to reduce overall GHG emissions.”

“With leading companies increasingly setting science-based targets, we see growing demand for peer-to-peer learning focused in particular on scope 3 emissions in corporate supply chains.” 

“The challenge goes beyond motivating ambition that cascades through supplier tiers; meaningful impact will depend on building suppliers’ capacity to act,” adds Steven Clarke, director of corporate clean energy leadership at the sustainability nonprofit Ceres.