Driving the New Climate Economy: How Companies and Communities Can Thrive in a Changing World

By Lisa Manley

There are clear signals that the climate has changed over the past century. Around the world, people are beginning to feel the effects, from increased average and extreme temperatures, to changes in rainfall patterns, to more severe and less predictable storms. At Mars, we source key agricultural materials from countries and communities that are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. We believe it’s time to take a new approach to addressing this challenge, using our influence and reach to take action that proactively addresses the impacts of climate change within our supply chain and operations. Here are three things our business and others are doing to take action.

Setting Science-Based Targets 

More than 97 percent of actively publishing climate scientists agree human activity is extremely likely to be causing the climate-warming trends over the last century. To avoid the worst consequences of climate change, science tells us we should limit global warming to less than the two degree Celsius threshold outlined in the Paris Agreement on climate change. As the saying goes, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. With that in mind, the first thing business should do is trust the science; then align measurable goals and actions around that science.

We looked to the best-available science to guide us in setting our climate goals at Mars. That science says we must reduce the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across our value chain by 27 percent by 2025 and by 67 percent by 2050 (from 2015 levels). That means not only changing how we operate, but also working with partners and suppliers to transform entire value chains so that the ingredients we need to make our best-loved products, like M&Ms and Uncle Bens, are produced with lower environmental impacts. This isn’t an easy goal to meet. But we know it’s what’s necessary to unlock the systemic changes that are needed to benefit people and the planet.

Committing to Renewable Energy

The second thing business should do is look for the places where we can get the most immediate momentum and leverage that momentum for scale. At Mars, energy use is the major driver of our GHG emissions from direct operations. That’s why we’re big fans of renewable electricity with a goal to eliminate 100 percent of the GHG emissions from our direct operations by 2040. This goal covers the energy use from about 420 sites in more than 80 countries around the world.

We’re already using or purchasing renewable electricity to cover 100 percent of our operations in Belgium, Lithuania, the United Kingdom and the United States. And in 2018, we plan to add Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Mexico, Poland and Spain to this list. In addition to renewable electricity, renewable thermal energy is an important part of our energy use in our factories. For that reason, we helped launch the Renewable Thermal Collaborative – a coalition for organizations that are committed to scaling up renewable heating and cooling at their facilities and dramatically cutting carbon emissions.

Fostering Executive Engagement and Advocacy

The third imperative for business action is to ensure we are aligning what we say with what we do. We need more vocal business advocates for climate action. We are walking this talk through coalitions such as We Are Still In, a declaration made by 2,700 cross-sector leaders in the U.S. to commit to tackling climate change, ensuring a clean energy future and upholding the Paris Agreement. It also can happen through executive advocacy. For example, our Mars chairman, Stephen Badger, recently authored an op/ed piece in The Washington Post, which makes a strong call to action to global businesses on climate change.

We also need to extend our advocacy to include the seats of power and influence within government. That’s why we engage with groups like the Ceres BICEP (Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy) Network, to bring business leaders’ voices to Capitol Hill and local legislatures on climate action and clean energy.

For global businesses, it is our time to step up and lead on climate action. This is not just the “right thing to do,” but also makes good business sense; investing in sustainable practices today will help us become stronger, more resilient businesses in the future.

Lisa Manley is Senior Director, Sustainability Engagement & Partnerships, Mars, Inc.

Photo: Mars, Inc.

This article originally published on LinkedIn and distributed by 3BL Media.