Greene King pledges to be net zero by 2040

25-Apr-2022 - Last updated on 25-Apr-2022 at 10:14 GMT

Greene King, greener planet: The pubco pledges to become net zero by 2040 (Getty/ jaquesvandinteren)

Greene King has pledged to become net zero by 2040, following steps taken by trade bodies to cut down the sector’s carbon footprint after the chief executive dubbed the climate crisis the “greatest challenge of our time.”

The company has committed to set near-term emissions targets in line with climate science with Science Based Targets initiative, reducing absolute Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% by 2030 from 2019 base year.

Greene King chief executive Nick Mackenzie said he was “proud” of the commitment the business was undertaking in helping customers to make environmentally friendly choices while reducing its carbon footprint.

He also believed the climate crisis was the “responsibility of every one of us and the greatest challenge of our time.” He continued: “By submitting our near-term target to SBTi for validation we are making the public commitment to take action. It matters to our customers, our communities and our employees."

Rising to the challenge

He added: “We are under no illusions this will be a monumental challenge. With full support from all of our stakeholders and in close cross-sector collaboration, we will rise to the challenge.”

Others in the sector have taken action towards reducing the sector’s environmental impact. Just last week, the Zero Carbon Forum launched the Hospitality & Brewing Carbon Calculator to help hospitality operators and brewers calculate and cut down their carbon footprint.

The platform, created in tandem with UKHospitality (UKH) and the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) and powered by Sky, follows the publication of the industry’s roadmap to net zero last November.

Zero Carbon Forum chief executive and founder Mark Chapman said: “Accurately measuring and understanding your carbon footprint is critical to starting a meaningful plan to cut carbon and costs.

“Our new calculator and toolkit shows operators how to take action on reducing emissions in their own business and supply chain rather than offsetting. It is based on the roadmap findings and learnings of all forum members and input from our carbon expert.”

More help needed

This comes after UKH called for more support for pub businesses when it came to meeting the Government’s biodiversity and carbon net zero aims earlier this month.

The trade body cautioned against placing burdensome regulations on businesses already struggling to get their post-Covid recoveries off the ground.

UKH chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “The Government must consider the scale of operations and resources required for businesses to comply with the proposed regulations and should therefore provide significant support to businesses when necessary.

According to Nicholls, this should include financial help, particularly for smaller businesses set to incur significant implementation costs.