A historic agreement was made last week during the COP21 negotiations in which 195 countries agreed to a plan to combat climate change. The “Paris Agreement,” as it is being called, comes at a time when companies like Kellogg are addressing the risks climate change poses to them, the people who grow their ingredients and the consumers who love and trust their brands. At the same time, Kellogg believes it has a responsibility to make a difference in critical sustainability issues like hunger, food security and climate change.
Limiting global warming and mitigating the risks associated with changes in climate patterns requires more than action only by the world’s foreign ministers and presidents. A future that fends off severe climate-related impacts requires companies to take action and make their own commitments, playing an important role in helping to address climate change.
Kellogg is among a number of companies who’ve committed to continuing expansion of renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The company took that work several steps further during the COP21 events in Paris, announcing ambitious new science-based emissions targets. By 2050, Kellogg will reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent, and will ask its global suppliers to reduce their emissions by 50 percent in that same timeframe, one of only 10 companies globally whose commitments have been reviewed and approved by Science-Based Targets, a joint initiative by CDP, the UN Global Compact (UNGC), the World Resources Institute (WRI) and WWF .
But the company’s role in COP21 was about more than pledging promises for the future. Kellogg is among other major brands as one of the 154 corporations demonstrating support for action on climate change with the American Business Act on Climate Pledge. Kellogg Chairman and CEO John Bryant was also among 14 major food and beverage leaders who’ve pledged through the sustainability advocacy group, Ceres, to accelerate business action on climate change and urged governments to do the same with a robust international agreement.
Businesses from around the world participated in this year’s COP21 negotiations at unprecedented levels. They’re calling on governments to take action while recognizing the contribution businesses must make to achieve meaningful solutions to climate challenges, and reflecting the expectations consumers have for action.
From the dialogue in Paris to the sustainable agriculture work with farmers to the expansion of low-carbon energy in its facilities, Kellogg is working hard in the face of climate risk to support half-a-million farmers, protect the land where our foods are grown and made, and address hunger today and for generations to come.
Kellogg must and will continue to address the risks of climate change, which are critical to global food security, business continuity and the secure supply of its ingredients.
