An update on Diageo’s sustainability goals to build climate resilience

In 2020, when we set ambitious environmental sustainability goals as part of our Sprit of Progress action plan, we didn’t have all the answers. But we knew progress would require innovation, long-term commitment and supportive policy environments.

Five years on, we have better data, deeper insights and a clearer view of the practical realities to deliver net zero. Climate resilience is complex and key systems like regulation, policy frameworks and infrastructure have not advanced at the scale required.

Today, alongside our Annual Report publication, we’re updating a few of our sustainability goals, with some important adjustments to our carbon and packaging goals to give us a stronger, more credible path forward. As our most strategic climate risk, our water goals remain the same. 

Our revised carbon targets now have an extended timeline, a fiscal 2022 baseline and they have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for the near and long-term. They cover our net-zero journey in greater detail, they remain data driven and are still aligned to a 1.5 degree warming pathway.

Our revised targets include: 

• Reducing our scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030, reaching net zero in direct operations by 2040.
• Reducing our scope 3 emissions by 26% by 2030 and achieving net zero across scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 2050.
• Increasing the percentage of recycled content in our packaging to 50 % by 2030.
• Implementing 10 regenerative agriculture programmes by 2030.

To simplify our reporting and bring greater focus to our delivery, we’re also retiring a few of our goals:

• With our updated SBTi targets across carbon, our 100% renewable energy by 2030 goal will be superseded by those new requirements. We remain committed to our target of 100% renewable electricity by 2030 through our RE100 target.
• We’re also retiring our 10% reduction packaging weight goal as the absolute nature of the packaging weight competes with volume growth.

We’re also proud of the progress we’ve made on some tough targets in the last five years:

• On water, we’ve surpassed our goal to provide Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities near our sites and we’ve implemented over 150 water replenishment projects. Since 2020 our water efficiency has improved by 20.6% and we’re on track to replenish more water than we use in water-stressed areas by 2026.
• On carbon, more than 85% of the electricity we use is now renewable and our Scope 1 and 2 emissions have also decreased by nearly one fifth on our 2022 baseline. We’ve also surpassed our goal of launching five regenerative agriculture programmes by 2030.
• On packaging, we’ve hit our 2025 goal of 35% recycled content in PET bottles, reaching 43%.

Sustainability has never been simple. Collaboration remains essential and we cannot achieve our goals in isolation. We’re clearer than ever on what it takes to achieve our objectives with renewed focus and expert knowledge. By acting on, delivering and reviewing our commitments we are taking steps to make our business more resilient while preserving our license to operate and grow.

You can read more about the changes to our sustainability goals in our F25 Annual Report and hear from Diageo’s President of Global Supply and Chief Sustainability Officer, Ewan Andrew, below.