On the cover : a Nestlé green ad
Extract translated from the Financial Times
Nestlé CEO Philipp Navratil has partly blamed Donald Trump for the company’s inability to talk enough about sustainability as the US president dismantles the country’s environmental regulations and labels climate change “a hoax”.
At an event for Nestlé employees in December, Navratil said that “it is a bit of a shame” that the world’s largest food company is not more vocal on sustainability issues. The Nestlé boss said that while he should have some of the blame it was “also President Trump’s fault”, according to video footage of the event seen by the FT..
After returning to the White House a year ago, Trump quickly rescinded a number of US environmental protections and withdrew from the Paris climate agreement.
In a speech to the UN in September, the US president called the carbon footprint concept a ‘hoax’ and this month withdrew the US from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the world’s most important climate treaty. The US is Nestlé’s largest market, generating $38bn (SFr30bn) in annual revenue in 2024, according to its annual report. The Swiss group employs about 36,000 people at 112 sites across the country.
Navratil, who was appointed Nestlé’s CEO in September, said at the company event that he thinks “it’s a huge mistake not to be focused on it [sustainability]” and assured employees that Nestlé was still committed to its zero net emissions targets. ‘We have not stepped back from it, but we need to talk about it more,’ Navratil said. A spokesperson added: ‘It is important to advance sustainable farming practices to increase supply chain resilience, improve farmers’ incomes and keep food affordable, priorities we share with the US administration.
The company is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and aims for a 50 per cent reduction by 2030, compared to 2018 levels. It has already achieved a 20 per cent reduction.
In recent years, major companies, including BP and Coca-Cola, have scaled back or diluted their environmental targets as the ESG movement loses momentum. Others have stuck to their goals, but have stopped talking about them in their corporate communications, a phenomenon known as ‘greenhushing’. Last week, scientists warned that global warming will exceed 1.5C more than a decade earlier than previously expected if recent warming rates continue. While Nestlé says its approach to ESG is unchanged..
The only company that has moved against the trend, only recently however, seems to be Walmart.
I find Navratil at the very least courageous.
