Energy and Climate

Scientific evidence shows that human activity is changing and will continue to change the climate, with serious consequences for people and the planet. This evidence is the basis for our commitments in this area. Read more about the impact of climate change.

Through our Sustainable in a Generation (SiG) program, we aim to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from our factories and offices to zero by 2040 by eliminating fossil-fuel energy use and using more renewable energy. Our strategy is to achieve zero GHG emissions through absolute emissions reductions; we do not currently plan to use any form of carbon offset.

Our immediate focus is on reducing use of fossil-fuel-based energy sources and GHG emissions at our operations. We specify both targets for several reasons:

• We can directly control energy use at our operations.
• GHG emissions are the most significant environmental impact of fossil-fuel energy use.
• While energy use and GHG emissions are related, they do not always have a one-to-one relationship.

See Understanding our Impact for more about the GHG emissions throughout our value chain.

Our operations contribute around 13 percent of our total GHG emissions. Most of these emissions come in the form of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from energy used at our 132 manufacturing facilities and in our offices. Our use of refrigerants accounts for a very small portion of our GHG emissions.

In addition to our SiG targets, we are also reducing greenhouse gas emissions when delivering our products to retail customers. Business travel, sales vehicles and commuting all create emissions but at levels too small to consider material to report on for Mars, Incorporated. These emissions are not included in our targets but they are a focus for some nonmanufacturing business units, where they account for a larger share.

Mars follows the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol), the most widely used international accounting tool for government and business to quantify GHG emissions.

The GHG Protocol defines direct and indirect emissions as follows:

• Direct GHG emissions are emissions from sources that Mars directly owns or controls.
• Indirect GHG emissions are emissions that are a consequence of our activities but occur at sources owned or controlled by another entity.

The GHG Protocol further categorizes these direct and indirect emissions into three broad scopes:

• Scope 1: All direct GHG emissions
• Scope 2: Indirect GHG emissions from consumption of purchased electricity, heat or steam
• Scope 3: Other indirect emissions, such as the extraction and production of purchased materials and fuels, transport-related activities in vehicles we do not own or control, outsourced activities, waste disposal, etc.