How we’re taking action with our suppliers on our net zero journey

COP26 has further underlined that urgent climate action is needed if we are to limit global temperature increase to 1.5⁰ C degrees. For businesses to deliver against credible science-based carbon reduction commitments it means rethinking their entire supply chains with a focus on reaching net zero well beyond their own operations. Addressing Scope 3 emissions will be fundamental to decarbonisation, and this will require collaboration and partnership throughout every part of the value chain, and the continued support of policy makers and governments..

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) has set an ambition to reach net zero by 2040 and reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% by 2030 (vs. 2019), aligned with a 1.5C pathway and approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). To do this, we recognise that key areas of our business will need to undergo fundamental change. With more than 90% of our emissions attributed to our supply chain, we will need action from 15,000 suppliers too. We have been making progress over the last decade; since 2010 we have reduced our Scope 3 emissions by 27%. But we know we need to do more and move faster.

Our carbon reduction pathway started with a three-year plan, focusing on the most immediate and impactful carbon reduction actions. In October 2020, we asked all our suppliers to take three actions:

• Set and validate GHG emission reduction targets with the SBTi by 2023
• Commit to using 100% renewable electricity across their operations by 2023
• Share their carbon footprint data with us

By setting science-based targets and having them validated by SBTi, our suppliers set themselves a clearly defined emissions reduction pathway, in line with the Paris Agreement goals.

Since we launched our net zero ambition one year ago, we’ve made strong progress:

• Almost half (45%) of our carbon strategic suppliers are now engaging with SBTi in 2021 (up from 12% in 2020)
• Almost a third (31%) of our strategic suppliers are engaging with SBTi in 2021 (up from 11% in 2020)

Switching to 100% renewable energy is one of the most impactful carbon reduction steps that any company can make. It reduces carbon emissions, and also helps support local and national net zero objectives. Data-sharing about GHG emissions, is also vital. It enables us to work collaboratively and ensure GHG emission reduction targets are met. We focus efforts on our strategic suppliers (who account for 80% of our spend) and our carbon strategic suppliers (who account for over 80% of our Scope 3 emissions).

Partnership is important, so we offer several support options to our suppliers, including training days, detailed guidance for category managers where we explanation the cost and environmental implications of inaction, and provide tools on climate ambition, action and advocacy. We are now planning to expand the programme to 100 additional carbon strategic suppliers across our new territories following CCEP’s acquisition of Coca-Cola Amatil earlier this year.

We are also working to understand supplier-specific emission factors for carbon strategic suppliers across core aspects of our supply chain, such as packaging. This will be critical in helping us to build a more accurate picture of our Scope 3 emissions and reflect the impact their actions are having.

We know that our net zero 2040 ambition is ambitious and that we still have a lot of work ahead of us. We also recognise that each of our suppliers has their own decarbonization journey with different timescales and targets. In order to achieve our ambition, we will need to continue to collaborate with all of our suppliers.

I’m excited about the progress we’re making. It confirms that our strategic suppliers, like us, are taking real action to decarbonise their businesses and I am optimistic that we will have significantly transformed our supply chain by 2023. I look forward to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead as we continue our path towards a low carbon future.