Observer Report
Islamabad
PepsiCo has published its 2019 Sustainability Report, highlighting progress toward its sustainability goals and reaffirming the company’s agenda to help build a more sustainable food system. The 2019 Sustainability Report shares progress across priority areas where PepsiCo believes it can have the most meaningful impact: agriculture, water, climate, packaging, products, and people.
Since 2006, PepsiCo’s philanthropic arm The PepsiCo Foundation has helped over 44 million people in underserved communities around the world gain access to safe water, far surpassing its goal to reach 25 million by 2025. PepsiCo has now set an ambitious new target to reach a total of 100 million people by 2030.
In 2019, nearly 80% of PepsiCo’s farmer-sourced agricultural raw materials were verified as sustainably sourced. Looking ahead, the plan is to reach the 100% goal by the end of 2020. PepsiCo reduced its absolute GHG emissions by 6% across its global value chain in 2019. PepsiCo has signed the UN’s Business Ambition for 1.5°C pledge, committing to set science-based emissions-reduction targets across its entire value chain, all aimed at limiting global warming to 1.5°C, while also developing a long-term strategy for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
In Pakistan, PepsiCo is focusing on four main areas; access to safe water, next generation agriculture, youth employability and COVID-19 disaster relief efforts.
PepsiCo has aligned with the government of Pakistan on access to safe water to support the ‘Clean Green Pakistan’ program. PepsiCo is working with WaterAid to provide safe water to 140,000 people in the country by 2021. In addition, the company has made significant progress in water usage efficiency across its operations and aims to replenish 27 million liters of water per annum by 2021 through several water replenishment projects.
In the area of agriculture, PepsiCo is leading the ‘Next Generation Agriculture, practices in Pakistan by helping its farmers adopt high efficiency irrigation systems, educating them on alternatives to stubble burning, encouraging peer to peer learning and water conservation. Since 2017, PepsiCo has helped its farmers reduce water consumption by 1.6 billion liters.
In line with the Government’s Kamayab Jawan Initiative, the company is expanding its existing support for youth employment and skills development with the help of an education start up – Amal Academy. So far, 2,500 students have gone through the professional technical and soft skills training. 70 percent of job seeking students have received an employment offer within three months of graduating from the Program. PepsiCo is also supporting the ‘Ehsaas Program’ by helping create a circular economy for plastic packaging. As part of its COVID relief efforts PepsiCo Pakistan is also supporting the ‘Ehsaas Program’ through its ‘Millions of Meals’ program and has so far distributed 5.2 million meals across Pakistan with the help of non-profit partners who are deeply rooted in communities.
Earlier this year, PepsiCo announced an investment of Rs 775 million (US $5 million) for social impact programs over the next 3 years to continue their support in the above-mentioned key areas.
Furqan Ahmed Syed, CEO PepsiCo Pakistan and Afghanistan commented, ’I am proud of the progress we continue to make on our sustainability agenda globally and locally. We remain committed to aligning ourselves with the government’s priorities and helping tackle long term issues by building a strong network of partners who continue to deliver widespread impact. It is heartening to see our partner potato growers transition to sustainable farming practices with a core focus on conserving water. Our commitment to helping build a better future for people and the planet is part of PepsiCo’s broader vision to become a global leader in convenient foods and beverages by “Winning with Purpose.”’
