Sodexo is already taking action on this global challenge through core services by taking action to reduce carbon footprint and committed to achieving its carbon emissions target of 34% by 2025. This commitment is aligned with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report’s reduction pathway to limit warming to 1.5°C. Behind this goal, are the many actions that Sodexo is taking and the four detailed below are where Sodexo can be the most impactful. These are part of our  Better Tomorrow 2025 Corporate Responsibility roadmap.

1. Preventing Food Waste

Apples with truck in the background

If food waste were a country, it would be the 3rd largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the USA and China.  Preventing food waste is the single most important area where we can work to reduce emissions. Sodexo has implemented WasteWatch, a waste tracking program powered by Leanpath to help meet food waste reduction goals.

Using this program, Sodexo site teams can rapidly and easily capture food waste data, take action based upon intuitive analytics, and drive cultural and behavioral change to cut food waste generated in the kitchen as well as that left on consumers’ plates. Sodexo’s objective is to extend the program to 100% of its food sites by the end of Fiscal 2025. Sodexo employees, clients and consumers around the world are particularly mobilized around the topic of waste, every October, during our annual event, WasteLESS Week.

2. Promoting Plant-Based Meal Options

Three bowls of plant based receipes

According to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, raising livestock contributes 14.5% of all climate change related emissions (FAO) or about 7 times more than global air transport.

To raise awareness on the health and environmental benefits of plant-based meals, Sodexo has implemented programs like Love of Food and offers like Mindful. Sodexo has also partnered with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to work on criteria for dishes that are better for consumers and for the environment.

In North America, Sodexo launched 200 new plant-based recipes in hundreds of accounts across its Universities, Healthcare, and Corporate Services segments. The new menus were created in partnership with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the World Resource Institute-Better Buying Lab (WRI), to meet consumer demands for plant-based options and reduce the environmental impact of food offerings.

Sodexo announced a partnership with Unilever Food Services (Knorr Professional) and the WWF to bring more sustainable food choices to more consumers across the world. Sodexo will feature recipes inspired by Knorr and WWF’s Future 50 Foods report, 50 nutritious foods that are healthy, flavourful, accessible and can be better for the planet than comparison foods.

3. Supporting a shift to innovative energy solutions through our energy management expertise

Two people in security uniforms

The burning of coal, natural gas, and oil for electricity and heat is the largest single source of global greenhouse gas emissions and accounted for 25% of total emissions in 2010 (source). Sodexo believes it is vital to increase energy awareness and to deploy best practices around energy efficiency. Sodexo is working with its clients on-site to reduce its energy consumption and conserve water. Additionally, Sodexo has proven expertise in energy management services across the world and partners with clients as they work towards energy reduction goals. Sodexo can help a business reduce its energy costs by six figure amounts in some instances; and reduce its carbon emission through auditing, monitoring, design, and by bringing about behavioral change.

To date, Sodexo has within our business achieved:

4. Increasing local and small business engagement and responsible sourcing

Woman in a garden

Sodexo places a strong focus on supporting local and small businesses such as suppliers promoting sustainable agricultural practices. Moreover, further reducing food transportation reduces carbon emissions associated with logistics. Sodexo directed more than 4 billion euros in Fiscal 2018 in business value to local and small businesses and expects this amount to reach 10 billion in 2025.

Today, more than half of Sodexo’s carbon emissions come from its supply chain, primarily from carbon intensive commodities such as beef, dairy, palm oil, soy and paper that can also have an impact on deforestation. Sodexo is continuing our collaborative efforts with the WWF (our technical partner on environmental issues since 2010) and its suppliers to reduce the emissions associated with the products used, particularly products such as these ones.

5. Climate change

Through our global partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), we created a new methodology to calculate the carbon embedded in our operations and supply chain. This information has allowed us to set a target to reduce carbon emissions by 34% from our operations and supply chain between 2011 and 2025.> By following this methodology in India, we have been able to reduce carbon emission by 14% already. Some important steps we have taken are: integration of more efficient bulbs, better gadgets, sensor-based washrooms, peak hour temperature management and predictive maintenance.

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