In Short : Mars, the multinational food company, has unveiled its Net Zero Roadmap, outlining a pioneering path toward sustainability and profitability. The roadmap emphasizes Mars’ commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its entire value chain by 2050. This ambitious initiative reflects a growing trend among major corporations to prioritize sustainable practices, aiming to mitigate climate change while ensuring long-term economic viability. Mars’ roadmap serves as a notable example of how large companies are taking proactive steps to address their environmental impact.
In Detail : Mars recently unveiled its Mars Net Zero Roadmap, a detailed action plan to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions across its full value chain by 2050. It has committed over $1 billion in the next three years to this cause and will continue to commit financial resources as needed until Net Zero is achieved.
I sat down with Andy Pharoah, Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Sustainability at Mars, to delve into the company’s unique approach to purpose and sustainability.
Mars’ purpose, as Andy Pharoah explains, is a beacon that influences not only their business practices but also their responsibility towards associates and the communities in which they operate. “Articulating the purpose of our company was one of the first tasks I had upon joining the business. For me, it was key that we had a clear purpose to differentiate ourselves, and that we communicate that externally. After going through the process of defining purpose, with collaboration from the Mars family, we arrived at this simple, yet powerful statement: ‘The world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today’,” he reflected.
One of the things that shows how seriously the company takes this is its pioneering stance when it comes to linking remuneration to impact. This linkage extends beyond mere words and translates into a robust commitment to accountability. At Mars, senior leaders’ variable pay is directly tied to the Mars Compass, which encompasses ambitious objectives like GHG emission reductions, creating sustainable packaging, and safeguarding Mars’ reputation. This alignment ensures that Mars’ leaders have a vested interest in the company’s long-term value, emphasizing sustainability alongside profitability.
This novel approach is deeply ingrained in Mars’ operating model, including remuneration and resource allocation plans. Pharoah outlined, “We are unique in this way. For example, when our business segments are required to present three-year financial plans, what we call an integrated value creation plan, they must encompass their sustainability targets into those plans. Where will they be on greenhouse gas emissions? Where will they be on plastics? How much will they invest in these things? These are the questions that are constantly being asked of teams and leaders, and their performance against these has a material impact on their pay.”
Mars doesn’t subscribe to the notion that sustainability comes at the cost of performance. It firmly believes that embedding climate reductions into governance and business planning, including in variable remuneration plans of senior executives, investment planning process, and its merger and acquisition strategy is the key to achieving both.