{"id":16391,"date":"2019-04-21T18:01:25","date_gmt":"2019-04-22T01:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=16391"},"modified":"2019-04-21T18:01:25","modified_gmt":"2019-04-22T01:01:25","slug":"yum-brands-shows-leadership-among-fast-food-peers-takes-encouraging-first-step-to-mitigate-its-climate-change-impacts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=16391","title":{"rendered":"Yum! Brands shows leadership among fast food peers, takes encouraging first step to mitigate its climate change impacts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fast food giant commits to pursue science-based targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and explore purchasing renewable energy for its restaurants.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Yum! Brands<\/strong>\u00a0took \u201can important first step\u201d to mitigate its impacts on climate change and align with investor expectations on greenhouse gas emission reductions, according to investors who reached an agreement today with the fast food giant.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The parent company of\u00a0KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut<\/strong>\u00a0committed to pursue a science-based target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its operations, franchises and supply chain (Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions<\/em>), and to explore purchasing renewable energy. The commitment came after investors agreed to withdraw a shareholder resolution proposal filed by\u00a0Sister Marge Clark of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, supported by Francis Sherman of Seventh Generation Interfaith Coalition for Responsible Investment and the sustainability nonprofit organization Ceres<\/strong>.\u00a0The proposal called on the company to study the feasibility of setting targets for increasing the company’s use of renewable energy and other climate change mitigation strategies.<\/p>\n

\u201cGlobal Restaurant Companies like Yum! Brands are well-positioned to minimize risk and capture opportunities by significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions,\u201d said Clark. \u201cAs shareholders, we\u2019re particularly encouraged by the company\u2019s agreement to tackle not only the emissions from the company and its franchisees but those in its agricultural supply chain — which make up the lion\u2019s share — as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re encouraged by Yum! Brands\u2019 commitment to set emissions reduction targets that go beyond energy efficiency measures to implement multiple strategies to mitigate its exposure to climate risk,\u201d said Sherman. \u201cFast food companies, through their operations and agricultural supply chains, are particularly vulnerable to climate risk, and it\u2019s important that Yum! Brands take steps to manage these risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yum is working with a consulting firm to more comprehensively assess the greenhouse gas emissions from their supply chain (known as Scope 3 emissions). \u201cAs Yum! grows as a business, we aim to do so in a way that respects the planet.\u201d Said\u00a0Jon Hixson, vice president for global government affairs and sustainability for Yum<\/strong>.\u00a0\u201cWe remain committed to energy and climate initiatives to minimize the environmental impact of our restaurants and supply chain. To continue on this journey across our brands, franchises and suppliers, our study will initially evaluate our greenhouse gas (GHG) data to better understand our footprint, to help refine GHG reduction targets and to identify emission reduction initiatives, such as renewables and conservation measures, to further improve our environmental performance on the path to developing approved science-based targets.”<\/p>\n

Yum! Brands\u2019 commitment to begin the process of setting a science-based emissions reduction goal comes one year after McDonald\u2019s became the first restaurant chain in the world to set an approved science-based target.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompanies in the fast food sector have a long way to go when it comes to reducing both their contribution to the climate crisis and their exposure to climate risk,\u201d said\u00a0Mindy Lubber, CEO and President of Ceres<\/strong>. \u201cIt\u2019s encouraging to see Yum! Brands begin the work of aligning the company with global efforts to tackle climate change. We hope to see swift, concrete action to meet these targets by procuring renewable energy, increasing energy efficiency, and eliminating deforestation from their supply base. We\u2019re looking forward to continued engagement to ensure they get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Investors have recently ratcheted up pressure on the fast food sector around its greenhouse gas emissions and its exposure to climate, water and deforestation risks. In January, the sustainability nonprofit organization Ceres and the investor network FAIRR Initiative coordinated a group of\u00a080 investors, with more than $6.5 trillion in assets under management to publicly urge the 6 largest U.S. fast food companies\u00a0<\/a>(including Yum! Brands\u2019) to address exposure to climate, water and deforestation risks associated with their meat and dairy supply chains.<\/p>\n

\u201cYum! Brands commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions including from its supply chain is an encouraging step forward. With the livestock industry responsible for 14.5% of the world\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions, food companies urgently need to step up in order to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change. It\u2019s critical that fast food giants fast-track their climate mitigation,\u201d said\u00a0Aarti Ramachandran, Head of Research & Engagements at FAIRR<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fast food giant commits to pursue...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s-a","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16391"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16392,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16391\/revisions\/16392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}