Footprint readers won’t need reminding that the journey to net-zero is long, arduous and often unpredictable. Five years since it launched its roadmap to net-zero for the brewing and hospitality sector, Zero Carbon Forum (ZCF) has published a 5-year review of progress that neatly encapsulates the challenge businesses face in aligning action with impact. Its headline finding is that strong progress on direct emissions stands in contrast to ongoing difficulty in tackling those emissions that sit within company supply chains.
The forum itself has grown from 22 founding members in 2020 to over 70 brewing and hospitality sector leaders, responsible for £15bn of annual revenue and including the likes of Burger King UK, WSH and Greene King.
There is good news to be found within scopes 1 and 2 with members having achieved a 52% reduction in direct energy emissions, resulting in a saving of 825,000 tonnes of CO2e and £5m recovered in lost profits. This has been achieved by switching from gas to electricity, investing in more energy efficient equipment and implementing behaviour change initiatives. Members remain on track to meet the forum’s 2030 net-zero target for direct energy emissions.
Progress on scope 3 tells a different story. Supply chain emissions associated with purchased goods like food and packaging account for the lion’s share of the total for the average brewing and hospitality sector business. Yet they are also the hardest to abate. Among ZCF members, supply chain emissions have fallen by just 2% since 2020. Although the forum says actions have been defined in areas like sustainable menus and sourcing, it concedes that adoption is at an early stage with overall progress not yet at the pace or scale required to hit net-zero by 2040.
In his foreword to the report, ZCF founder and CEO, Mark Chapman, stated that the next phase of the forum’s work will “accelerate emissions reductions across our supply chain, build resilience to climate impacts and embed sustainability in the decisions of every function of our members”. He noted how the forum has developed industry frameworks and strategically aligned with suppliers for key emissions areas, including beef, dairy and waste, ensuring that emission reductions will accelerate as a direct result.
Chapman also had a message for those who cling to the belief that investment in net-zero is somehow at odds with financial performance and resilience. “Net-zero businesses are more efficient in their use of energy, water and raw materials. They have stronger, more secure supply chains. They are better places to work, easier to invest in, and more appealing to customers. In short, this is not just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do,” he wrote.
Landing right on cue to help demonstrate Chapman’s point, CDP this week published its corporate health check 2026exploring how the world’s largest companies are progressing on their environmental commitments and what this means for their financial performance. Its analysis, produced in collaboration with Oliver Marsh, showed that companies assessed as showing climate leadership realised a total of US$218bn (£162bn) in environmental opportunities over the last 12 months. In over half of the sectors analysed, including food, beverage and agriculture, climate leaders are showing higher or similar market growth compared to those at the lowest performance level. “This research shows that business leaders today are not operating in isolation of the planetary shifts; they are the ones embracing them as a potential driver of profitability,” wrote Sherry Madera, CEO of CDP, in her foreword to the report.
Also this week:
