Our approach to climate change is comprehensive, interconnecting our goals across areas like responsible sourcing, social sustainability, and human rights.
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HIGHLIGHTS
- Approximately (37)% CO2e emissions reductions across our manufacturing operations in 2024 (vs. 2018) (2)
- Approximately (12)% GHG emissions reduction across our value chain (vs. 2018) (1)
STRATEGIC APPROACH
At Mondelēz International, we are part of a broad movement across our sector that aims to bring about more sustainable ways of growing and operating business. For us, this involves aiming to reduce our environmental impact while helping to support resilience across our supply chains and the communities our business touches.
Our approach also links our carbon emission-reduction goals, our leadership in sourcing ingredients more responsibly, and our commitment to social sustainability and human rights across our value chain. Every element of our approach reinforces the other. Our ingredient sourcing programs are where most of our carbon emissions reduction work and social sustainability efforts live. So as part of our signature sourcing programs for our key ingredients, such as Cocoa Life for cocoa and Harmony Wheat for wheat, we are working towards supporting more resilient landscapes, communities, and robust human rights to help provide lasting economic, environmental, and social benefits for the communities involved.
We focus on areas where we believe we can make the greatest positive difference for the long term. This is why we focus on limiting our environmental impact by contributing to climate change mitigation, across key focus areas within our operations and supply chain. Similarly, we work to identify and manage climate change-related risks which helps us to shape our adaptation strategies as we seek to reduce the impact of climate change both on our organization and on the communities we touch.
CLIMATE RISK MITIGATION -OUR NET ZERO PATHWAY
We’ve been on a path to reduce our carbon emissions for several years and took a key step in 2021 when we set our long-term goal of net-zero GHG emissions across our full value chain by 2050.
We have signed the SBTi’s Business Ambition for 1.5°C, aligning our long-term emissions mitigation goals with the Paris Agreement’s aim of limiting temperature rise. We’ve also joined the United Nations “Race to Zero” campaign to help build momentum toward a decarbonized economy.
In April 2024, the SBTi successfully validated our full value chain goal to reduce absolute end-to-end CO2e emissions by about 35% by 2030 and to reach net-zero by 2050 from a 2018 base year, including the reduction of absolute gross scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 50.4% within the same timeframe, in line with the 1.5oC reduction pathway.(1) (2) This followed a thorough review of our carbon accounting documentation, in line with both the GHG Protocol and SBTi standards and guidelines, as well as our commitment to continue transforming our operations and supply chains while transparently reporting progress. This exercise was developed with the input of multiple functions throughout the business – including Manufacturing, Logistics, Finance and Procurement – as well as collaboration with our external partners and suppliers in building a framework for more consistent carbon reporting across our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
For Scope 1, we identify and report on the combustion of fuels taking place in our own facilities and mobile operations, as well as any fugitive emissions from our sites.
For Scope 2, measuring emissions involves assessing indirect emissions associated with the electricity, heat and steam we buy for our own facilities.
For Scope 3, we measure the indirect emissions generated within our value chain, such as the emissions generated from materials and services we buy, emissions generated from activities associated with fuel and energy, and emissions generated from finished goods storage and transportation, as well as business travel and investments.
We also strive to support cross sector sharing and collaboration when it comes to common challenges in decarbonizing supply chains. We actively participate in a number of global organizations focused on supply chain improvements, including the Toward Net Zero Coalition of Action (TNZ) and the Forest Positive Coalition of Action (FPC) as part of our membership with the CGF.
We are implementing the SBTi reduction pathway following distinct phases as shown in Figure 1 above. (Find out more on SBTi’s website.)
STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING CARBON
At Mondelēz International, we focus our strategic efforts on three prominent drivers of carbon emissions at play in the food and beverage sector: the changing use of land, including deforestation; emissions related to farming; and use of fossil fuels. That’s why we regard deforestation-free, regenerative agriculture and the avoidance of fossil fuels as key focus areas to help cut our emissions.
To effectively bring these three strategies to life, we have identified our main focus areas and created reduction roadmaps for each which includes, shifting our ingredient supply chains away from sources where deforestation occurs; focusing on regenerative agriculture that uses ecological principles to sustain and restore degraded soils; and embracing renewable energy sources and low- impact, more sustainable packaging.
Completeness & Consistency in Determining Carbon Footprint Reporting (1)
To help make our carbon footprint reporting more consistent, we expose our data to external verification and align our internal processes with the GHG Protocol standards. As part of this, we published our formalized Carbon Accounting Manual during 2023. And we continued to increase the internal processes we use to promote consistency of approach, in the form of a growing range of Standard Operating Procedures.
We continue to keep our carbon inventory up to date, now including the recently acquired Chipita Global S.A. and Ricolino. Starting in 2024, Mondelēz International partnered with Watershed to improve the GHG accounting process allowing for greater data granularity and streamlined calculation.
Overall, our emissions continue to reduce over the years as we continue transitioning our materials to a number of new customized emissions factors, allowing us to reflect the strategic efforts following our three focus areas to reduce our emissions.
Our end-to-end emissions are aligned with SBTi guidelines where we focus our initiatives on our most impactful and actionable GHG emissions across the value chain (approximately 90% of our end-to- end CO2e emissions in base year 2018).(1)
CLIMATE RISKS & RESILIENT COMMUNITIES
Operating at a global scale means we can have a meaningful positive impact by encouraging practices that respect land rights, and by investing in innovation and technology to increase transparency and measure impact at scale across our supply chain.
Identifying and managing climate change-related risks is part of our ERM process, enabling us to expand and deepen our understanding of our impact on the planet, informing our strategies and ultimately sharpening and enhancing our approaches.
We are in the process of reviewing our approach to assessing environmental dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities in alignment with evolving standards and regulations. For this, we collaborate with third-party expert Risilience and their partner, the Centre for Risk Studies at the University of Cambridge. Risilience specializes in providing the methodology and climate modelling platform that, in combination with their own data and assumptions, drives informed decision-making and impact analysis through climate-related risk assessment and scenario analysis.
The platform offered by Risilience provides several configurable models that quantify the impact of various physical and transition risks under different emission pathways. These emission pathways range from a 1.5oC of warming to >4oC of warming as compared with pre-industrial levels. Physical risks include the increasing frequency of extreme weather events and natural disasters, effects on water availability and quality, and biodiversity loss. These can increase risks to the global food production and distribution system, and to the safety and resilience of the communities where we live, work, and source our ingredients. They could also further decrease food security for communities around the world. Transition risks include increased focus by federal, state, and local regulatory and legislative bodies around the world regarding environmental policies relating to climate change, regulating GHG emissions (including carbon pricing or a carbon tax), energy policies, disclosure obligations and sustainability, including single use plastics.
The analytical output results of this tool are aligned with TCFD’s (and similar) reporting requirements, which may be used as a foundation for future climate-related regulatory disclosure requirements.
We continue to monitor this space so that our approach remains relevant and transparent, and we continue to strive to provide our stakeholders with relevant information on climate-related issues. We report on our metrics and goals annually in our Snacking Made Right reports and CDP questionnaire disclosures.
For more details please read our Annual Report
STRATEGIES FOR CLIMATE RISK ADAPTATION
Looking at climate physical and transition risks, we strive to help support communities and landscapes to adapt and become more resilient. We do this through three key strategies :
- Enhancing social sustainability and respecting Human Rights
Resilient communities are better positioned to drive their own development. We strive to make sure that the rights of people in our value chain are respected and promoted, and that the communities where we operate are more resilient. To this end, we focus on key areas for greater impact, including addressing Human Rights risks in sourcing key commodities, and working to improve living wages and due diligence in our own operations.
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Aiming to seek no deforestation across primary commodities by 2025
Deforestation is a risk because of its contribution to global climate change as well as its impact on indigenous peoples
and local communities, and ecosystem services in affected areas. Therefore, we believe it is important to take action to help reduce deforestation and promote more sustainable land use practices which respect human rights, including land rights, in line with our Human Rights Policy
Our goal is to seek no deforestation across our primary commodities following an approach starting with our European business in accordance with EU regulations and rolling out to our other regions by December 31, 2025, in accordance with SBTi guidance. The cutoff date was December 31, 2020, in accordance with EU regulations and SBTi guidance. This is the date after which deforestation is counted against a company’s supply chain, meaning that products have to be produced on land that has not been subject to deforestation or forest degradation after December 31, 2020. In specific cases, e.g., where specific certification standards exist, we may apply cut-off dates set by those respective standards if they are the same or earlier in time. For cocoa and palm oil, two commodities we source that are considered at-risk when it comes to deforestation, we engage with our key suppliers to supply only deforestation-free cocoa and palm oil to Mondelēz International. We also call on our suppliers to take efforts to end deforestation in their supply chains. While focus lies on cocoa and palm oil, we also consider soy1, pulp, and paper in our deforestation-free approach.
Ending deforestation needs sector-level transformation. We support an approach in which key players along the value chain work collaboratively to tackle systemic issues at the industry, country and landscape-level.
Our full deforestation position is available on our website.
- Increasing regenerative agricultural practices
To help improve agricultural resilience, we’re working to transform agricultural production into regenerative systems while reducing carbon. We focus on agroforestry landscapes, biodiversity, and regenerative farming practices across our key ingredients, including cocoa and wheat. This involves participation in sector- wide initiatives and coalitions with multiple stakeholders.
ACTION PLANS AND PROGRESS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT THROUGH OUR OPERATIONS & INGREDIENT SOURCING
RAW MATERIALS – COCOA
We engage with key suppliers to promote sourcing of deforestation-free cocoa.
- Read more about our deforestation position on our website
We also address challenges of climate change and deforestation in the cocoa supply chain through Cocoa Life by working with partners to advance the ambitions of the Cocoa and Forests Initiative.
Particularly as supply of cocoa has been hindered largely due to weather with lower production causing a rise in the price of this important ingredient, we have continued our Cocoa Life focus to support our goal of a thriving cocoa sector that collaborates to tackle interrelated system issues.
Cocoa Life Actions to Protect and Restore Forests
As part of Cocoa Life, we believe in conserving the land and forests for today and for tomorrow. As part of our integrated approach, we focus on helping to protect and restore forests and seek no deforestation on Cocoa Life farms.
Two key elements drive our cocoa emissions reduction: agroforestry and farming practices. Therefore, through Cocoa Life, we are working with partners and governments to help farmers grow more resilient farms through trainings on agricultural and environmental practices. These trainings are delivered to raise awareness, to build farming skills and to encourage activities that help increase cocoa yields while avoiding farm expansion into protected areas. We also help promote agroforestry techniques through planting non-cocoa trees to protect crops from excessive sun and heat. These trees also promote biodiversity and can provide farmers with additional income. By the end of 2024, we distributed ~10,665,000 economic shade trees, trained ~178,000 farmers in Good Agricultural Practices and trained ~571,000 community members in Good Environmental practices.(4)
We are also applying farm mapping to monitor deforestation for communities. Farm mapping enables us to assess deforestation risks in our supply chain and gain a deeper understanding of farming community needs and farm boundaries. By the end of 2024, we have mapped more than 237,000 Cocoa Life farms.(29)
Promoting Cocoa Agroforestry
Carbon removals are key to meeting our carbon objectives as we cannot rely only on carbon reduction. We continue to remain in line with the GHG protocol and continue our efforts while we wait for the GHG Protocol’s Land Sector and Removals (LSR) guidance. We have started a carbon booster project focusing on carbon removals to help sequester carbon from the atmosphere and have a bigger positive climate impact. This project focuses on agroforestry and in particular tree planting to sequester carbon. In some countries, this project also includes financial incentives (Payments for Environmental Services – PES) paid to farmers for the number of trees planted (Cameroon) or the survival rate of trees (Indonesia).
Generally, research and practitioners expect agroforestry to provide a wide range of environmental, social and economic ecosystem services:
- Income diversification for farmers: Trees planted are usually a mix of fruit and timber trees. If the tree is a source of income it is less likely the farmer will cut it down for wood.
- Soil conservation (improves soil quality and reduces soil erosion, increases soil fertility).
- Biodiversity preservation.
- Natural barrier to pests (when planting along the borders of the plot).
- Helps crops become more resilient to climate change and extreme climatic events.
We launched the carbon booster project in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, India, Indonesia and Brazil in 2023 and in Nigeria and Cameroon in 2024. While we continue to plant trees, we also see climate challenges – low rainfalls in India or El Niño in Brazil pose a higher risk of tree mortality.
We currently use field monitoring for tree survival rates to confirm they are still sequestrating carbon. As we scale tree planting in the coming years, we intend to assess how to monitor tree survival leveraging remote sensing data to support the field monitoring.
Understanding Our Impact on Forests
We work with Satelligence, a remote sensing company, to help us understand the impact on natural forests of Cocoa Life farmers and communities. Satelligence applies satellite imagery to detect forest cover changes that can indicate likely deforestation events, and machine-learning to measure deforestation rates. Following sector practices in 2024, the methodology was adjusted to expand the scope to secondary forests in addition to primary forests. The new definition improves forest detection and helps us better protect already degraded area where forests have newly regrown in addition to primary forests.
In alignment with our Cocoa and Forests Initiative ambitions, we look at deforestation signals from 2018 until the latest available data (2024). In 2024, the analysis focused on our impact on forests in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.
Overall results in West Africa (Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria) show approximately 2.5% deforestation on or closely around Cocoa Life registered farms.(3) The satellite monitoring results show near no deforestation on or closely around Cocoa Life registered farms in Côte d’Ivoire (~0.6%) and Ghana (~2.2%) since 2018. In Nigeria, the new detection approach indicates a level of approximately 19% with most detected occurrences located on potential secondary forest or agroforestry areas versus primary forest which was the focus of our 2023 analysis. We are in the process of engaging with supply chain partners to better understand what triggers the occurrences and, if required, follow up to do checks on the ground and assess the opportunity to rehabilitate impacted areas as appropriate.
Understanding the Carbon Emissions Impact
Building on our work from 2022, we’re continuing to expand our list defining customized emission factors that will help us to understand our carbon emissions intensity, which helps to quantify the carbon reductions resulting from the Cocoa Life program.
In doing so, we’re using data to translate our interventions in deforestation prevention and agroforestry as well as farming practices into custom emission factors. In our major sourcing countries, this approach is resulting in lower emissions per tonne of product than we would obtain with generic emission factors.
Working in Collaboration Across Landscapes
As we seek forest protection and restoration, we work with farming communities, peers, sector partners and governments to drive solutions on a landscape level. This includes the CFI and multistakeholder landscape initiatives, such as the Asunafo-Asutifi landscape partnership in Ghana.
As part of Cocoa Life Indonesia’s activities in Aceh and North Sumatra, we help protect and restore forests in the Leuser Ecosystem landscapes.
RAW MATERIALS – DAIRY
To better maximize our efforts, we have taken a two-pronged approach to help reduce carbon intensity in dairy: We work directly with farmers supplying our core brands Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Philadelphia, and we closely collaborate with strategic processors. Thanks to first tracking their CO2e emissions and then developing action plans to reduce them, some strategic suppliers have successfully completed their baselines and are delivering lower carbon intensity compared to their base year.
Europe at the Helm of Dairy GHG Reduction Programs
We are working with several of our dairy suppliers in Europe on ambitious farm-level GHG reduction programs with the goal of reducing CO2e emissions from baselines that Mondelēz International began establishing in 2018.
Our goal is to gain a clear picture of GHG emissions and sustainability efforts across our shared value chain. We work with dairy suppliers, industry experts, and our carbon accounting partner, Quantis, to review the tools and methodologies used for measuring GHG emissions. This helps us to accurately assess our baseline and measure progress. A robust baseline, based on farm-level data, highlights environmental hotspots and solutions most relevant for our supply chain.
In 2024, we kicked off phase 2 of our baselining efforts to cover more of our Europe supplier base and began to track annual progress for the baselines validated in phase 1.
In Italy, our local supplier Fattorie Osella has taken another significant step forward in dairy sustainability. After becoming the first dairy company in Italy to obtain animal welfare certification for ~100% of its milk suppliers since 2016, Fattorie Osella has launched a three-year carbon reduction journey with xFarm Technologies. Through this collaboration, 17 farmers are expected to gain access to their on-farm carbon footprints, enabling them to design a tailored roadmap for reducing on-farm CO2e emissions. Farmers will have access to an online platform that helps digitalize their operations and make informed sustainability decisions.
Australia on Its Way
Australia is on the dairy emissions-reduction journey, partnering directly with Cadbury dairy farmers in Tasmania. In 2024 Mondelēz Australia completed baselines for on-farm carbon footprints and are now looking at ways to partner with farmers to develop reduction strategies for the short, medium, and long term.
Emerging Technologies & Innovations in Dairy
Our Research & Development (R&D) organization continued our collaboration with the Scienta Group, a science and innovation consultancy, to stay informed on developments and support us in achieving our ambitions. This partnership has been instrumental in exploring the longer-term technical landscape, assessing the implementation readiness and efficacy of existing technologies,
and identifying new areas for exploration through opportunities in academia and industry collaboration. Moreover, our work with Scienta has identified early Technology Readiness Level (TRL) technologies, which we will explore during 2025 to better understand how they can be leveraged to deliver against our plan.
As part of our efforts with the Scienta Group, we are proud to have supported and secured approval for a European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Food-funded project. This initiative focuses on exploring the application of the Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) to better understand the environmental and economic impacts of various dairy farm typologies across Europe.
In addition, we have secured a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Queen’s University Belfast, further enhancing our internal expertise in assessing end-to-end emissions on farms as technology interventions are implemented. These collaborations reflect our commitment to innovation and progress as we work towards a more sustainable future.
Collaborating Across the Dairy Sector
In 2024, we continued our partnership with the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI Platform) and its Sustainable Dairy Partnership (SDP) to collaborate within the industry. This includes our efforts to scale the adoption of the SDP in Latin America.
Through the SDP, we have worked to promote sector alignment on the reporting of sustainability topics and continuous improvement on key dairy issues. Along with a variety of stakeholders, processors and national programs (altogether representing about 30% of the global dairy volume), we are working to raise the bar in dairy sustainability. By recognizing existing programs, we are striving to avoid duplicating efforts, allowing more resources to help create positive impact at farm level. In 2024 we began to explore the option of using SDP data for baselining eligible suppliers. We intend to continue this work in 2025.
By collaborating with producers, processors, and buyers like ourselves, we hope to support a more sustainable future for dairy.
RAW MATERIALS – PALM OIL
Our aim to seek no deforestation is building upon the company’s POAP, which was first issued in 2014. We take into account learnings and experience realized in our Company’s efforts to collaborate with suppliers to source deforestation-free palm oil and applies those learnings across primary commodities. In the future, this plan will also take into account current and impending regulation, as well as insights from external frameworks such as the SBTi and collaborative organizations such as CGF FPC and CGF POCG.
Sourcing palm oil more sustainably means for us switching from broadly RSPO credit sourcing in prior years to sourcing RSPO physical certified starting in 2025. In conjunction we are also adopting NDPE’s IRF and require our suppliers to submit NDPE IRF profiles annually.
Shifting to deforestation-free sourcing supports our carbon footprint reduction.
RAW MATERIALS – WHEAT
We also work to help curb our supply chain footprint through our Harmony sustainable wheat program.
Our strengthened charter, Harmony Ambition 2030, includes 20 mandatory farming practices plus 17 best practices, built in close collaboration with agronomic experts, NGOs and, of course, our wheat supply chain. To help mitigate climate change, our Harmony Regenerative Charter focuses on the following objectives:
- Optimizing the use of nitrogen fertilizers, the main source of greenhouse gas emissions in wheat production, and a source of soil health degradation;
- Diversifying crop rotation by introducing leguminous crops;
- Keeping the soil covered between crops to help improve soil structure, store carbon and reduce the need for fertilizers; and
- Reducing tillage to limit erosion, improve water retention and enhance soil health.
We kick-started Harmony Ambition 2030 with a test-and-learn model in France. Participating farmers sowed Harmony wheat under our Regenerative Charter for harvest 2023. Encouraging results in France helped us to apply learnings to a wider European roll-out over the coming years, starting with Belgium for harvest 2024, Central Europe for harvest 2025 and finishing with Spain and Italy for harvest 2026.
Strong Data Reporting System to Measure Our Impact
Harmony has developed a strong and unique data reporting system on farming practices that allows for full traceability from Harmony wheat storage to factory. Our aim is to calculate and monitor a set of economic and agro-environmental performance indicators, such as nitrogen use efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions and pesticide use. Key results are shared with wheat supply chain partners to fuel a continuous improvement approach, and our charter is reworked to further reduce our environmental footprint.
To confirm our Harmony-labeled products comply with requirements of the charter, certified third-party organizations (SGS, Bureau Veritas) conduct annual verifications. All mills and storage bodies as well as about 10% of partner farmers are audited every year with over 285 audits performed in 2024.
In 2024, we decided to go further and kicked off a project to launch a new digital platform, developed by the technology company Improvin’. With the detailed farm-level data in the Harmony data platform, we will be able to more effectively track the overall progress of the program including factors such as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Designed with user simplicity in mind, the Harmony data platform features an intuitive interface and built- in compatibility with many Harmony partners’ existing tools, including Farm Management Systems.
The platform’s advanced machine learning capabilities, using modeled data from sources such as satellite imagery, streamline the reporting process, allowing farmers to validate information rather than having to enter data manually. Furthermore, the Harmony data platform offers farmers valuable feedback on their performance and tailored support to enhance their regenerative practices.
This Harmony data platform will be rolled out across Europe starting in 2025, covering more than 1,260 farms in seven markets by 2026: France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Poland, Czechia and Hungary. In 2025, the French and Belgian Harmony partners will be the first to gain access to the new platform.
MANUFACTURING
We’re focusing on increasing both our energy efficiency and our use of renewable energy (with a focus on electricity), so that we can go further in reducing our carbon emissions and our costs. In 2024, about 54% of the electricity we used in our manufacturing sites was renewable, compared to around 45% in 2023.(5)
We are also continuing to make adjustments to how we operate. We are leveraging improved processing designs for enhanced efficiency. For example, we are replacing some natural gas baking ovens with low-carbon fuels or electricity.
LOGISTICS OPERATIONS
Outbound logistics activities (from manufacturing plants to customers) represent about 4% of our total company CO2e emissions.(1) Most of our operations are outsourced, thus partnering with our suppliers is crucial to help deliver our net-zero emissions ambition. The main contributor to our emissions is truck transportation.
We are working to reduce the emissions across our logistics operations across a range of activities. Efforts include investing
in new and energy-efficient mobility solutions, as well as switching to renewable energy sources in our warehouses. We’re also optimizing routes, reducing travel distances and improving the ways in which we use trucks and containers.
Electric transportation continues to be piloted in a variety of markets, including China, the U.S.and Brazil and also in 2024 piloted for the first time in Czechia.
In Europe, we run a program called Design to Transport which aims to enhance our transportation efficiency by improving vehicle utilization. Three pillars of this program are pallet height optimization, pallet loading optimization (e.g. double stacking) and our Pack Light Right program, which optimizes truck space utilization and drives air reduction in transport. The program initiated in 2023 and continued to thrive into 2024, successfully eliminating over 1,000 trucks annually that transit between our manufacturing facilities and distribution centers.
PACKAGING
We continue to strive to make our packaging more efficient in line with our strategy. This means working toward reducing the virgin plastic material used in our packaging, while not compromising the quality and integrity of our products. We have deployed packaging sustainability design requirements across our global business.
These requirements are aligned with industry guidelines – such as the CGF’s Golden Design Rules – to promote consistency with latest leading practices. By designing our packaging to be recyclable, evolving to more sustainable materials and increasing our use of recycled content, we are working toward improving carbon intensity across our packaging portfolio.
SUPPLIER PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMS
In the last year, we have continued to build two major partnerships that are helping us better understand our broader Scope 3 emissions, while recognizing their level of alignment with our net- zero plans.
First, we continue working with EcoVadis, a leading provider of business sustainability ratings and second, we continue to partner with the Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition (Supplier LOCT), a consortium of world-leading businesses aiming to reduce supply chain emissions. Through this approach we are supporting our top suppliers in evolving or (where applicable) creating their Scope 3 footprint, setting CO2e reduction goals, and reporting outcomes in line with the SBTi.
INNOVATION
During 2024, we’ve worked on many areas of innovation, which are aimed at helping us reduce our carbon emissions. Key examples include:
- Conservation in Cocoa: We completed the first, comprehensive study of biochar’s potential as a carbon dioxide removal technology in a smallholder cocoa farming in collaboration with the Alliance of Biodiversity International and CIAT (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical). The results showed potential to simultaneously achieve decarbonization of cocoa, while also improving soil fertility, water retention, fertilizer use efficiency, and productivity. The most viable technologies and scaling models were identified and evaluated. Also, the community-based Payment for Ecosystems Services (PES) model developed under the Landscape for Sustainable Livelihoods (C4SL) pilot project in Ghana, has reduced the deforestation growth curve by over 70% compared to business-as-usual which means the conservation of about 7,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent together with improved water recharge and hectares of biodiversity. Additionally, we registered two high-yielding, resilient cocoa clones in Indonesia and established 4 budwood gardens in Sumatra, each with a capacity to distribute approximately 35,000 – 50,000 seedlings.
- Wheat Regen Ag Pilot: Developing a three-year baseline alongside Michigan State University Extension to initiate a regenerative agriculture program in the 2025 planting season, looking at the use of regenerative agriculture in wheat for Triscuit recipes. Also, Mondelēz International enlisted a Monitor, Reporting and Verification (MRV) partner to monitor, record and verify regenerative agricultural practices, as well as a crop warranty provider to help decrease risk during the transition to regenerative practices once the program begins.
- Wheat Breeding Program: We have been able to register two new soft wheat varieties in China, marking a significant milestone in our sustainability journey. Local sourcing is a critical enabler for our initiatives in China, and these varieties not only meet
our quality standards but also lay the foundation for working towards our longer-term goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
- Sustainable Futures Investment: Through our Sustainable Futures platform we have invested in eAgronom, a start up company that supports the transition to regenerative agriculture by helping farmers improve soil health, reduce carbon emissions and enhance financial resilience through sustainable practices. With over 1 million hectares already under sustainable farming practices, eAgronom enables farmers to access carbon credit markets, helping create additional revenue streams while helping strengthen their ability to adapt to climate-related challenges.
- EcoDesign Development: R&D colleagues throughout our business now have access to a digital EcoDesign tool to help them build reduced environmental impact into product and process innovations, reformulations and portfolio shifts. We also use our eQoPack, a packaging assessment tool developed by Quantis to help us design more sustainable packaging.
- Reformulation Research: We are piloting a digital dashboard to help us capture the carbon-reduction potential available through reformulation. We also funded a project with The National Food Lab, Inc. to test the potential for taking dairy ingredients out of selected baked products with minimal impact on cost, taste or nutrition.
WHERE OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT COMES FROM
Similar to other food manufacturers, we see about 70% of our footprint driven by raw materials.(1) Cocoa and dairy are the two largest contributors to our footprint driven by our portfolio followed by: palm oil, sugar, wheat, other oils, nuts, and all other ingredients.
The remaining approximately 30% is broken out across internal manufacturing linked to the production of our products plus related upstream fuel and energy related activities, packaging used to keep our products safe and protected during transportation and handling, logistics operations linked to storage and transportation of finished goods, and various other categories including emissions related to external manufacturing, investments, services, business travel, and small categories.
Our end-to-end footprint has reduced by approximately (12)% compared to our 2018 baseline or approximately (9)% compared to emissions in the prior year.(1) Our Scope 1 and 2 emissions continue to decrease, reflecting our progress in renewable electricity and energy efficiency. We reduced our Scope 1 and 2 (market-based) emissions by approximately (28)% compared to our 2018 baseline and approximately (2)% compared to emissions in the prior year.(1)
In the past we have been focused on reducing the carbon emissions across our manufacturing operations by 10% from a 2018 base year which has been successfully achieved thanks to our strategic approach in our operations though electrification, transitioning to renewable energy, and efforts towards more energy efficient processes. Our focus moving forward will be shifting to the reduction of absolute Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 50.4% by 2030 against a 2018 base year.
Our Scope 3 emissions have decreased by approximately (11)% compared to our 2018 baseline, or approximately (9)% compared to emissions in the prior year as we continue to capture the positive effects of our various roadmaps, with the biggest impact coming from cocoa.(1) Our carbon reduction strategy is based on our focus areas, which each have a distinct roadmap.
View the full 2024 Snacking Made Right Report.
(1) In the reporting year 2024, our annual GHG emissions were accounted following the GHG Protocol Corporate Standards and using the operational control approach. Reported information following Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) guidelines for near-term target excludes Capital Goods, Upstream Transportation and Distribution of Raw Materials, Employee Commuting, Downstream Transportation at Customer, and End of Life Treatment.The long-term target excludes these same categories, except for Upstream Transportation and Distribution of Raw Materials and Employee Commuting. We have recalculated our base year 2018 and most recent years (2023 and 2024) inventory following the GHG Protocol Corporate Standards. Recent updates incorporate acquisitions Chipita and Ricolino. The footprint includes all acquisitions and divestitures to date except for Evirth. For more details, please see the Carbon Accounting Manual. Reported information is verified by an independent third-party and available in our ESG Reporting & Disclosure Reporting Archive. In the context of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), an “absolute target” refers to a reduction in total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by a specific percentage or amount, measured against a baseline year, rather than a reduction per unit of production or activity.
(2) Our near-term goal aligns with the latest standards and guidelines including the current SBTi Net Zero Standard (from March 2024) and the current SBTi FLAG (Forest, Land and Agriculture) Guidance (from December 2023) by setting near-term targets in line with limiting warming to 1.5°C.
(3) Reported information for the period from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024 for West Africa includes Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Ghana.
(4) Reported information for the period from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024 covers Brazil, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Ghana, Indonesia, India, and Nigeria unless otherwise stated (which differs from prior years).
(5) Reported information includes all divestitures to date and the following acquisitions (which were not included in previous years): Chipita, Clif bar, Give & Go, Gourmet Foods, Ricolino and Tate’s Bake Shop except for Evirth (subject to future data integration). We have recalculated our base year 2018 (where applicable) and most recent years (2023 and 2024) for year-over-year comparison. Reported information is verified by an independent third-party and available in our ESG Reporting & Disclosure Reporting Archive.
