Nestlé has published a set of 30 social and environmental goals focused on countering the global nutrition crisis and environmental decline, to be achieved by or before 2020.
In response to the growing obesity epidemic, the company says it will begin providing portion guidance on all children’s products by 2015 and label guideline daily amounts (GDA) on the front of pack on more products by 2016.
The food company also will provide 200 billion servings of micronutrient-fortified products worldwide, aimed at children and women of childbearing age.
Nestlé says it will reduce direct water withdrawal per ton of product by 40 percent and decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent by 2015. The company also plans to source only sustainable palm oil by year’s end.
“We fundamentally believe our company can only be successful over time if we also create value for society,” said Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke. “This means doing business in compliance with national laws, international standards and our own corporate business principles, and in ways that help protect the environment for future generations.”
The company says the nutritional and environmental challenges the world faces will require concerted, collective action from governments, business, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders rather than sporadic, isolated projects.
“At Nestlé we recognize that our position in society brings not only opportunities, but also responsibilities. We can play a valuable leadership role in support of concerted action,” Bulcke said.
Earlier this week Nestlé, along with the Co-operative and Sainsbury’s, committed to improving the sustainability of some of their products in response to research from the Product Sustainability Forum, a collaboration of 80+ organizations made up of grocery and home-improvement retailers and suppliers, academics, NGOs and UK government representatives.
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Founder & Principal Consultant, Hower Impact
Mike Hower is the founder of Hower Impact — a boutique consultancy delivering best-in-class strategic communication advisory and support for corporate sustainability, ESG and climate tech.
Published Mar 15, 2013 3am EDT / 12am PDT / 7am GMT / 8am CET