(Credit: Pixabay)The Hershey Company today announced new commitments to advance its environmental progress and contribute to global climate action. Hershey has set new goals to reduce its global emissions in line with the global best practice of the Paris Climate Agreement, to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
In 2019, Hershey committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) that it would audit its operations and develop targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in line with the best available climate science. As a result of that process, Hershey today announced its goal to reduce its absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by more than 50% and its absolute Scope 3 emissions by 25% by 2030, compared to a 2018 baseline.
Hershey will deploy a comprehensive, global approach to reduce emissions through investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy, packaging innovations, and sustainable land-use policies.
Hershey's new commitments to reduce its impact on the planet are part of its Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) agenda.
Renewable energy investments and energy efficiency projects will be a primary focus for Hershey to reach its Scope 1 and Scope 2 commitment. The company has signed two power purchase agreements (PPAs) that will enable the construction of two new utility-scale solar farms. Additional energy efficiency projects are being pursued around the world, and the company will continue on its path towards an increasing reliance on clean and renewable energy across all operations. These efforts, along with others, are expected to reduce Hershey's Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by more than 40% by 2024.
To drive this commitment forward, each Hershey location around the world has designated an Energy Champion, responsible for implementing carbon savings, meeting energy conservation goals, promoting employee engagement, and identifying opportunities for energy reduction and efficiencies.
In 2015, the company committed to reduce its packaging weight by 25 million pounds by 2025 and has successfully delivered on that promise five years ahead of schedule.
Building on this progress, the company has set a new goal to reduce packaging weight an additional 25 million pounds by 2030. Hershey is also targeting 100% of its plastic packaging to be recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2030. These commitments will help reduce emissions, contributing to the company's new GHG reduction target.
