Essay: Tom Delay, Chief Executive, Carbon Trust

PepsiCo is a proud partner with the Carbon Trust, a U.K.-based, independent, not-for-profit company that helps businesses address climate change.

Tough economic times raise tough questions. And sustainability features among these questions as never before. Should sustainability take a back seat while we sort out the global economy? Isn't it just a luxury for the good times?

Management time and capital are in short supply. But forward-thinking companies recognise the importance of taking action now, in the midst of a downturn. In the short term, efficiency savings help the bottom line whilst factoring sustainability into the development of products and services builds longer-term strategic advantage.

At the Carbon Trust we have been working with PepsiCo since 2003 on its response to climate change. This started with energy efficiency projects across its sites but more recently led to groundbreaking work on product carbon footprinting and labelling. The Walkers brand was the first to carry our Carbon Reduction Label in the UK and Ireland. Quaker Oats now carries the Label and Tropicana was the first US brand to disclose its certified footprint in March 2009.

PepsiCo has seen a range of benefits from this work including a better understanding of the business risks of climate change, energy cost reductions across the supply chain and enhanced relationships with staff, suppliers and customers. This all makes business sense, as well as making a valuable contribution to their sustainability goals.

But maintaining global leadership on climate change mitigation is not easy. Global companies have to deal with increasingly complex supply chains, differing regulatory regimes in each market and varying levels of customer engagement around the world.

The companies that will succeed in this environment are those which bind their business objectives and sustainability goals into a single vision. It takes leadership from the top but also buy-in right across the organization.

And for leading brands, this means more than managing direct impacts--engaging and prompting action with suppliers and customers is where the real advances will be made in the future.

I welcome this update from PepsiCo on their activities and look forward to helping them work towards their future goals.

Tom Delay
Chief Executive, The Carbon Trust