PepsiCo
At a Glance
Industry
Consumer Packaged Goods
Project Types
Clean and Renewable Energy, Financial Evaluation and Planning, Goals/Targets
Year
2021
Location
Purchase, NY
Summary
Allie developed the foundation for a strategic roadmap and internal educational tools to drive progress toward PepsiCo’s net-zero emissions ambition.
Goals
In January 2021, PepsiCo pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, one decade earlier than required by the Paris Agreement. PepsiCo’s Global Sustainability Office enlisted EDF Climate Corps Fellow Allie Stauss to assess its current net-zero strategy and develop a framework for assessing the impact and strategic alignment of potential activities, collaborations, and partnerships that would form the basis for a robust pipeline of high-potential nature-based solutions to emission removals.
Solutions
Allie approached the initial development of an emissions removal strategy through the following steps:
- Inventoried existing activities within the business related to nature-based solutions and emissions offsetting. This work provided context and direction for subsequent exploration.
- Conducted a landscape analysis among PepsiCo’s peer companies, industry associations, NGOs, and project developers. This work delivered key insights into the trends, opportunities, and challenges facing the emissions removal space.
- Formulated a criteria matrix for use by the climate team to assess prospective engagements that will maximize delivery of scaled impact, efficiency, and synergy with PepsiCo’s broader sustainability agenda. This work is designed for continuous application.
- Elevated internal awareness around the importance of emissions removal activities to PepsiCo’s net zero commitment and galvanized accelerated action.
Potential Impact
This year, PepsiCo will participate in pilot studies hosted by SBTi and GHG Protocol to test net zero target-setting tools. The outcomes of these pilots will inform the finalized guidance regarding the required composition of emissions abatement and neutralization. Allie’s assessment framework and recommendations will equip PepsiCo to proactively develop a pipeline of removal solutions in service to its net zero ambition. This will position PepsiCo as a leader in the emissions removal space and provide sufficient runway to build the requisite relationships and capabilities to achieve the requisite scale of neutralization by its 2040 target.