General Mills makes new commitments on climate change

General Mills announced this week a new ambitious commitment to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent across its entire value chain over the next 10 years.

According to the company, its long-term goal is to achieve sustainable emission levels in line with scientific consensus by 2050.

“For 150 years, General Mills has served the world by making food people love. Our aim is to be around for another 150 years,” said Ken Powell, chairman and CEO of General Mills. “We recognize that we must do our part to protect and conserve natural resources. Our business depends on it and so does the planet.”

General Mills began a targeted effort to reduce greenhouse gas emission in 2005. Since then, the company has reduced emissions in its operations by 13 percent. The company accomplished this by using energy more efficiently across its facilities and by converting to less greenhouse gas-intensive forms of energy.

But General Mills says it is aware a majority of its total emissions come from outside its direct operations.

“We know our greatest impact is outside our four walls – particularly in agriculture, ingredients and packaging,” Powell said. “To reduce emission levels, we must work across our value chain with growers, suppliers, customers and industry partners. Together, we will identify new solutions and promote sustainable agriculture practices that drive emission reductions.”

In addition to reducing emissions, General Mills has outlined four specific actions to help fulfill its climate commitment over the next 10 years, including:

-Continue to lead the way in its own, direct operations by investing more than $100MM in energy efficiency and clean energy. This level of investment is in-line with the work the company has been doing within our operations to reduce our environmental footprint since 2005.

-Partner with suppliers to accelerate adoption of more sustainable agriculture practices that build climate-resilient, healthy soils.

-Help consumers reduce their carbon footprint through products and packaging with smaller footprints.

-Support climate resiliency of farmers in our supply chain.

Jeremy Gerrard was Food Engineering's Digital/Online Editor. He is a graduate of Auburn University with a degree in journalism. His previous work experience includes years spent as a reporter with the Daily Local News out of Chester County, PA. In addition to writing feature articles for Food Engineering, Jeremy covered the Dry Processing, Field Reports and People and Industry news sections.

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