What a strange time in corporate sustainability.
PepsiCo released “revised” sustainability goals. They’re not a leap forward, but not that bad either (with one key caveat). And yet the company’s tone feels a touch apologetic. This is a good snapshot of where corporate sustainability stands today.
There are many goal changes, but here are some of the big ones (see handy PDF of all changes):
👍 The good:
* Regenerative agriculture: Expanded from 7M to 10M acres
* Water use in agriculture: Met 2025 target in 2023 for high water-risk watersheds
* Improved Livelihoods: Kept goal of 250,000 people in supply chains, adding “and communities”
* Renewable electricity: Keeping 100% renewables by 2030
* Operational water use: Keeping net water positive by 2030
🤞 The ok (it depends on implementation):
* Sourcing: dropped target from 100% to 90% of key ingredients
* Climate emissions: Changing some percentages and baselines and moving net zero from 2040 to 2050, but still aligned with Science Based Targets initiative
* Operational water use: Sunsetting achieved goals and narrowing focus to high water-risk areas
😐 The Meh:
* Deforestation-free sourcing: Language softened from “realize” deforestation-free to “strive toward”
* Virgin Plastic (tonnage): From 20% reduction by 2030 to 2% year-over-year thru 2030
* Recycled content: from 50% to 40% in plastic packaging
👎 The Ugly:
* Reuse: Eliminated goal of 20% of servings in new models (reusable, refillable, prepared at home, etc.)
* Recycling rates: Moved from goal for communities/markets to increase recycling to an “aspiration”
Goals aren’t outcomes, and there’s plenty of fine print, but the commitments hit major impact areas.
5 Takeaways
👉 This is a good example of transparency
Love it or hate it, PepsiCo is clear about their new goals and what’s changed.
👉 PepsiCo hasn’t retreated
Some companies are talking about slowing sustainability work citing examples like this. But PepsiCo isn’t retreating exactly. A lot of important things are continuing, like regenerative agriculture and GHG emissions.
👉 But it isn’t leading either
They’ve abandoned any focus on reuse, one of the most critical future-focused areas that could drive innovation.
👉 Lowering the 100% sourcing goal isn’t all bad
Acknowledging that ~10% of the supply chain can’t be made sustainable within the current system is important learning. So…what will PepsiCo do to help drive system change?
👉 Sustainability comms are in a weird place
Threading the needle in the U.S. is very hard right now. Calling these “revised” goals is technically accurate, but initially sounds like corporate-speak for backsliding. In reality, they’re a mixed bag, but not a full retreat. There’s an odd overtone of “greenhushing” here.
So…PepsiCo’s sustainability targets are not the bold, science-based, leadership goals we saw from companies over the previous 5 years, but given the operating environment in the U.S., it could be a lot worse.
[See discussion on this on LinkedIn]
My video thoughts:
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