Mars Introduces $250 Million Sustainability Investment Fund
Mars, the global confectionery and food giant, has announced the launch of the Mars Sustainability Investment Fund (MSIF), a capital commitment of $250 million aimed at accelerating innovation in critical climate impact areas. The fund is a significant stride towards Mars' ambition to lead on environmental resilience by 2030 and reduce carbon emissions across its full value chain by half within the same timeframe.
Alastair Child, Mars' Chief Sustainability Officer, underscored the importance of delivering progress now and systemic change across supply chains. The MSIF will focus on three key investment areas: Advanced Agriculture, Innovative Ingredients and Raw Materials, and Next Generation Packaging.
Advanced Agriculture will support technologies that reduce emissions related to agricultural inputs and enhance farmer resilience and sustainability. Innovative Ingredients and Raw Materials will invest in healthier, lower-emission alternatives to traditional ingredients used in Mars products. Next Generation Packaging will develop circular packaging solutions that are recyclable, compostable, or bio-benign, with a focus on packaging circularity, including recyclable, compostable, or bio-benign replacements for flexible plastics.
Mars' CEO, Poul Weihrauch, emphasised the importance of investing in innovation and supporting start-ups that address resilience challenges. He believes that these investments can lead to reduced exposure to future environmental risks, turning it into profit and competitive advantage.
The MSIF will deploy capital across investment funds and through direct investments. By targeting these sectors, the fund contributes to Mars' broader "Sustainable in a Generation" plan, which aims not only to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also to create economic value and competitive advantage through sustainability-driven innovation.
Mars has already achieved a 16.4% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain, relative to a 2015 baseline. Initiatives outlined by Mars to reach its carbon emission target include transitioning to renewable energy, redesigning supply chains to stop deforestation, working with farmers on regenerative agriculture, and improving logistics.
In addition, Mars will incorporate GHG emissions reductions as a performance metric for 2,000 company leaders by 2024, an expansion from the top 400. Mars acknowledges the need for collaboration with governments, industry, and farmers to achieve its goals. The company aims to bring partners and peers along in its efforts towards systemic change.
With the launch of the MSIF, Mars reaffirms its commitment to building societal impact goals into business decision-making. Mars recognises that large-scale change is necessary to deliver on its collective goals and believes that by leading the way in sustainability, it can inspire others to follow suit.
- The Mars Sustainability Investment Fund (MSIF), with a capital commitment of $250 million, is focusing on three key investment areas in response to climate change: Advanced Agriculture, Innovative Ingredients and Raw Materials, and Next Generation Packaging.
- Alastair Child, Mars' Chief Sustainability Officer, emphasized the importance of investing in innovation and supporting start-ups that address resilience challenges, believing that these investments can lead to reduced exposure to future environmental risks, turning it into profit and competitive advantage.
- By deploying capital across investment funds and direct investments in areas like Advanced Agriculture and Next Generation Packaging, the MSIF is a significant step towards Mars' broader "Sustainable in a Generation" plan, which aims not only to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also to create economic value and competitive advantage through sustainability-driven innovation in environmental-science and business.
