Heineken targets carbon-neutral value chain by 2040

Global brewer Heineken has unveiled a new corporate strategy to become carbon-neutral across its operations by 2030 and then across its entire value chain by 2040.


Heineken targets carbon-neutral value chain by 2040

Heineken is also joining the Business Ambition for 1.5C

Heineken has refreshed its Brew a Better World ambitions, which forms part of the company’s new EverGreen balanced growth strategy.

The new strategy commits Heineken to fully decarbonise its own operations by maximising energy efficiency and renewable energy use by 2030. Additionally, the brewer will aim to achieve carbon neutrality for its value chain 10 years later. Targets will be submitted to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Heineken is also joining the Business Ambition for 1.5C, the Race to Zero and the RE100 programme to accelerate decarbonisation and increase clean energy uptake.

“In this Decade of Action, we are committing to accelerating our actions to address climate change. We aim to be carbon neutral in our production sites by 2030 in order to meet the 1.5°C goal set by the Paris Agreement. We will further reduce our emissions through energy efficiency and speed up the transition towards renewable energy,” Heineken’s chief executive Dolf van den Brink said.

Heineken will work with its suppliers to deliver a 30% cut in emissions across its entire value chain by 2030, against a 2018 baseline.

Since 2008, the brewer has reduced carbon emissions per hectolitre in its breweries by 51%. On clean energy, Heineken has introduced more than 130 renewable energy projects, five of which are in the top ten largest onsite solar installations for breweries worldwide. For example, Heineken’s Sol brand is being brewed using 100% renewable energy, following the installation of more than 9,000 solar panels at a facility in the Netherlands.

Efforts to reduce value chain emissions has seen the company pilot 500 low-carbon farming projects across eight countries. Heineken has also introduced zero-emission breweries in Spain and Austria. Last year, Heineken’s Spanish arm signed a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) that saw it switch to 100% renewable electricity from solar.

“A large part of our overall carbon footprint beyond production comes from agriculture, packaging, distribution and cooling. This means we will work in close partnership with our suppliers and partners to reach our ambitious goal of a carbon-neutral value chain by 2040,” van den Brink said.

“We know that Heineken can only thrive if our planet and our communities thrive. I want to thank our deeply committed employees for their passion for this topic. Together, we will do our part to brew a better world.”

Matt Mace

Comments (1)

  1. Kim Warren says:

    Too little, too late – we don’t have 20 years to fix this

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