Acting on climate change

Once an abstract concept for many, the impacts of climate change are now impossible to ignore. From the farmers who are part of our supply chain to the consumers who enjoy our products, everyone is affected by climate change.

To address the issue, we must work together, and we need to accelerate our efforts right away. That is why Nestlé has made a bold commitment to halve our greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050 – even as our business continues to grow.

By taking action to tackle climate change, we are helping protect the livelihoods of the farmers who supply us. We are also contributing to safeguarding a healthy environment for people and planet alike, today and in the future.

By working to reduce our climate impact and encouraging those in our value chain to do the same, we are shielding our business against the impacts of climate change.

Because of the nature of our business, we are taking action across agriculture, our operations, and products. These include:

• Protecting trees and landscapes that help absorb carbon
• Working with farmers to shift to regenerative ways of growing ingredients for food, including for the products we produce
• Ending deforestation in our primary supply chains by 2022
• Completing the transition to 100% renewable electricity

Nestlé Pakistan is among the markets within Nestlé where a major chunk of our brands (around 70%) are milk/dairy based. That is why when Nestlé Pakistan started working on our 2025 Sustainability Roadmap, we decided that our biggest interventions would target our extensive milk value chain. The main interventions are as follows:

Import of High-yield Cows

Dairy farm profitability is dependent on cow yield and feeding efficiency in addition to a number of different factors. The average of daily milk production volume by local cows is quite low. There are other breeds in the world, whose daily milk yield is up to three times more than that of our local breeds. This results in lower cost for the farmers as well as a lower carbon footprint. Nestlé Pakistan is incentivizing farmers by facilitating the import of high-yield cows.

A team of Agriculture Services experts is working closely with farmers to develop efficient dairy farms to increase farmer income as well as to help them produce more milk. The Agriculture Services team provides required training and technical assistance to manage the herds of these exotic cows. Nestlé Pakistan has also developed farm input suppliers for high-quality feed/fodder, milking machines, cow importers, farm sheds, etc and has connected them with farmers to fulfill farm requirements. This is helping us to develop successful business models and attract young farmers to adopt dairy farming as a sustainable business.

Regenerative Agriculture

Nestlé Pakistan is initiating implementation of regenerative agriculture practices that are proven to help increase crop yields with lower agriculture inputs and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Demonstration trials on zero tillage and use of natural crop residue as mulch, instead of burning them, has proven to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers giving better yields. Nestlé Pakistan has partnered with the University of Agriculture Faisalabad to evaluate the impact of these interventions in selected crops on farmers’ lands.

Plantation of Moringa Trees

Moringa tree is considered a climate-friendly plant due to its high carbon sequestration potential. Moringa plantation will also help us introduce unique fodder which help farmers in several ways; as a source of nutrition, rumen modifier and to improve conception rate in cows. This plant has one of the highest biomass with its enhanced capacity to sequester carbon. While studies are available on its benefits in several markets, we are also going to conduct a local study with the help of a partner university.

Switching to renewable energy sources

Increasing energy costs are damaging farmer revenues in addition to contaminating the environment. Nestlé Pakistan is subsidizing its farmers in solar installations. During 2021 and 2022, Nestlé supported installations of solar systems at 20 farms which reduced greenhouse gas emissions as well as the burden of high energy bills on farmers.

Biogas and Solar Units

Nestlé Pakistan contributed to the installation of solar energy systems at 10 dairy farms to encourage farmers to switch to renewable energy. We also helped with the installation of 10 biogas digesters, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from cow dung.