Why does Mars care about climate change? Why have we committed to making our operations Sustainable in a Generation? Why do we invest in scientific research to improve agricultural crops?
The answer lies in our objective to create a mutuality of benefits by doing business in ways that are good for Mars, good for people and good for the planet. To ensure focus and effectiveness, we root our business decisions in scientific understanding. We strive to understand and quantify our impacts and to develop science-based strategies for addressing them. Our targets are based on what is needed to solve the problem, rather than relying solely on what we can achieve in the immediate horizon.
Our Sustainable in a Generation goals are one example. Climate change is likely to affect farmers’ ability to grow crucial crops for Mars, such as cocoa. This threatens the livelihoods of farmers as well as our business. According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by approximately 80 percent by 2050 to keep mean global temperatures within two degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels and prevent dangerous consequences. This is why we committed to the ambitious target of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from our operations by 2040. We developed our strategy to achieve what the science says is necessary, and to maximize the related efficiency gains and cost benefits.
Our efforts do not stop at the factory gates: we are identifying opportunities for additional greenhouse gas reductions in our supply chain. These are not easy tasks, and without unflagging commitment we will not reach our targets.
Priority Issues
We have identified issue we need to address as priorities by plotting their relevance to the success of our business against their importance to external stakeholders. Other criteria taken into account include our level of influence and the scale of the potential impacts on people and the planet. We recognise that we live in a dynamic world where their relevance may shift and the review of this matrix is an ongoing process.
Materiality Matrix
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