Danone on track for 1.5° warming scenario by 2030, finds Planet Tracker
A recent report from Planet Tracker about leading French multinational food and beverage manufacturer, Danone S.A., has found the company is on track for a 1.5° warming scenario – on the proviso that Scope 3 Upstream emissions are sufficiently reduced.
LONDON, 15 November 2022: Leading French multinational food and beverage manufacturer Danone S.A. is on track to align with a 1.5° warming scenario by 2030 and meet Net Zero ambitions by 2050, finds financial think tank Planet Tracker.
However, the company will need to demonstrate a sufficient mitigation strategy for its Scope 3 Upstream emissions, which are currently forecast to account for 91% of a total 36,549 KTCO2e by 2030 – 147% higher than advised by Forest, Land and Agriculture Science Based (FLAG) targets.
Scope 3 Upstream agricultural emissions were found to be particularly problematic. The company will need to invest between USD 662 million and USD 1.1 billion to reduce the necessary 14,721 KTCO2e by 2030. While there is no disclosure of exactly how much is planned for investment into the direct mitigation of emissions coming from agricultural sourcing, USD 1.3 billion has been assigned to the three areas covering Soils, Forests, and Livestock emissions mitigation out of a total USD 2.4 billion mitigatory investment – sitting at the top end of Planet Tracker’s estimated range of required investment to align with targets.
The comprehensive Climate Transition Analysis undertaken by Planet Tracker also found Danone to be performing well in terms of governance, with high incentives for management tied to Net Zero objectives, as well as supplier engagement. The company is less advanced on its customer engagement and association with groups with a negative position on climate.
The primary shortfall identified was in risk analysis. The material financial impact derived from climate-related risks and opportunities will be equivalent to 47% of the three-year average annual trading operating profit and an additional 5% of the three-year average annual Capex. Danone’s internal risk assessment fails to cover the risk coming from potential carbon pricing mechanism targeting Scope 3 emissions, which would equate to 42% of Danone’s three-year average annual Trading Operating Profit, suggesting the company could be significantly underestimating the risk derived from Climate Change and Climate Transition.
Ion Visinovschi, Company Analyst at Planet Tracker, commented: “Operating in an industry responsible for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, it’s great to see that Danone has become more ambitious with its climate targets in recent years. Tackling Scope 3 emissions is the primary task that lies between them and Net Zero – and they’re not alone. It can be difficult for businesses to wrap their head around reducing emissions that aren’t directly created by their own operations.
But Danone demonstrates an understanding of the importance of this through its impressive supplier engagement programme, and certainly has the necessary financial capital to meet key targets. To facilitate a more user-friendly assessment of its climate transition moving forward, the company would benefit from a cohesive Net Zero Roadmap, where all the relevant disclosures are grouped in one place”.
Planet Tracker’s findings extrapolate data from 2019-2021 company emissions, taking into account several factors, including existing and planned mitigating activities, a recent revenue slowdown and the company’s target of a 3% annual revenue growth target. They are compared against FLAG-recommended absolute reductions for a 1.5°C scenario by 2030, which mandate a 35% cut from a 2020 baseline.
The Climate Transition Analysis of Danone is the second in a series examining the climate transition plans of the Consumer Goods companies in the Climate Action 100+ list. It can be downloaded in full here.
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ABOUT PLANET TRACKER
Planet Tracker is a non-profit financial think tank producing analytics and reports to align capital markets with planetary boundaries. Our mission is to create significant and irreversible transformation of global financial activities by 2030. By informing, enabling and mobilising the transformative power of capital markets we aim to deliver a financial system that is fully aligned with a net-zero, nature-positive economy. Planet Tracker proactively engages with financial institutions to drive change in their investment strategies. We ensure they know exactly what risk is built into their investments and identify opportunities from funding the systems transformations we advocate.
ABOUT PLANET TRACKER’S CLIMATE TRANSITION ANALYSIS
As part of its Food and Land Use programme, Planet Tracker is examining the transition plans of the food system (Consumer Goods) companies covered by the Climate Action 100+ list (https://www.climateaction100.org/whos-involved/companies). The goal is to provide investors with the key information and analysis they need to be able to hold food system companies to account for the quality of their climate transition plans and their execution against those plans, and to encourage them to use this information to engage effectively with these companies with the ultimate aim of driving the sustainable transformation of the global food system.
Media contact:
Ophelia Jeffrey
Aspectus Group
ophelia.jeffrey@aspectusgroup.com
+44 (0) 7584 657 646
