Approach

PepsiCo recognizes the critical need to protect and enhance our natural ecosystems. Most recently, under pep+ (PepsiCo Positive), we have set ourselves an end-to-end strategy with sustainability at its core, built to make progress where we believe our ability to influence positive, systemic change is greatest. pep+ includes a series of goals that touch most aspects of our business, aiming to drive Positive Agriculture, a Positive Value Chain and enable Positive Choices. Among these goals are many actions that aim to help us to safeguard nature and in doing so, aim to help to mitigate risk for our business and supply chain while also supporting long-term ecosystem health. These include actions taken in an effort to achieve the following:

• Spread the adoption of regenerative agriculture, restorative, or protective practices across 10 million acres of the land supporting the growth of our key crops and ingredients by 2030.¹ We approach regenerative agriculture with five impact areas² in mind, including enhancing biodiversity and protecting or restoring nature where there are identified risks. 
  • This is an expansion of the original 7-million-acre regenerative agriculture goal and expands the ambition both in scale and depth, as it includes specific objectives for nature within the goal.
• Sustainably source 90% of our key ingredients and progress volumes (10% or less) that face systemic barriers towards being sustainably sourced in accordance with our guidelines, by 2030.³
• Continue to strive toward deforestation-free sourcing by 2025 and toward deforestation- and conversion-free sourcing by 2030 for high-risk commodities in our company-owned and operated activities.⁴
• Reduce absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across our value chain by 2030 through a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions,⁵ a 42% reduction in Scope 3 energy and industry (E&I) emissions⁶ and a 30% reduction in Scope 3 forest, land and agriculture (FLAG)⁷ emissions (vs. a 2022 baseline).
  
• Achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner.⁸
• Achieve our sustainable packaging vision with a series of packaging goals including:
  • For our primary plastic packaging in key packaging markets achieving an average of a 2% year-over-year reduction in our absolute tonnage of virgin plastics through 2030;⁹ and
  • Achieving 97% or greater reusable, recyclable, or compostable (RRC) packaging by design by 2030 in our primary and secondary packaging in our key packaging markets.¹⁰

In pursuit of these aspirations, we are taking deliberate and significant steps in an effort to address the impacts, risks and opportunities that connect our business with nature. For example, our efforts to extend regenerative farming practices are founded on a set of techniques that aim to improve and restore ecosystems with a focus on building soil health and fertility; reducing and sequestering carbon emissions; improving watershed health; protecting and enhancing biodiversity; and improving farmer livelihoods through programming aiming to support economic prosperity, farmer and farm worker security, and inclusion and economic empowerment. Through these objectives, we aim to optimize crop yields and to secure our supply of agricultural ingredients.

Our plans to achieve our pep+ agenda are founded on careful consideration of the nuances of our business and supply chain. For nature, and for other key topics such as climate change and water, this means working with internal and external experts to identify key impacts and risks and to formulate strategies aiming to mitigate them. The focus of these assessments evolve over time in response to the latest science, stakeholder expectations and other developments. Through programs like our Sustainable Farming Program (SFP), we have been working to create a more resilient, sustainable agricultural system in an effort to help safeguard our continued business from disruption due to climate change, water scarcity and other environmental and social risks. PepsiCo continues to monitor and evaluate scientific advances and the needs of the business and its stakeholders; any future adjustments to its assessment approach are anticipated to reflect these.

We have set standards for ourselves and our supply chain that match our ambition for a sustainable agricultural supply chain over the long term. Our 2030 Positive Agriculture ambitions include collaborating with farmers to spread the adoption of regenerative farming practices globally. The effort builds on a decade of progress in our SFP to help farmers adopt practices that build resilience and that we hope will improve and restore ecosystems.

Our Board of Directors and its Sustainability and Public Policy Committee (SPPC) view sustainability issues such as nature to be an integral part of their business strategy oversight and are actively involved in defining our ambitions and monitoring the progress in advancing the pep+ agenda. Throughout the year, the Board and the SPPC regularly receive updates from and discuss with senior management the Company’s policies, programs and related risks that concern key sustainability matters, as well as progress made towards our sustainability-related goals. See Sustainability governance for more detail.

¹See PepsiCo’s Regenerative Agriculture Guidelines for additional information, including details on key crops and regeneration, restoration and protection criteria. Results represent the annual count in each year

²Refer to PepsiCo’s Regenerative Agriculture Practice Bank for a comprehensive listing of practices directly or indirectly linked to the five impact areas

³Sustainably sourced refers to in-scope ingredient volumes that meet the established criteria outlined in PepsiCo’s Sustainable Sourcing Guidelines. Sustainable Sourcing practices can help manage risks, but challenges like deforestation or social issues can persist in some regions

⁴PepsiCo set this ambition in its Stewardship of Forests and Natural Ecosystems Policy. High-risk commodities include ingredients and materials at high risk of deforestation and conversion as defined in our Calculation Methodology. Systemic challenges continue to be an industry-wide barrier to reaching fully deforestation-free sourcing, but we continue striving toward this ambition and expect to reach more than 90% by the end of 2025

⁵Goal tracks Scope 1 and 2 emissions consistent with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. See Calculation Methodology for details

⁶Goal tracks energy- and industry-related Scope 3 emissions consistent with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol's Scope 3 Standard and the Science Based Target Initiative’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard V1.2. See Calculation Methodology for details on how these emissions are calculated and categories included in scope of this goal ⁷Goal tracks Scope 3 emissions based on purchased goods emissions consistent with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol's draft Land Sector and Removals Guidance and Standard and the Science Based Target Initiative's Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) Guidance. See Calculation Methodology for details on how these emissions are calculated and categories included in scope of this goal

⁸Refer to our Climate Transition Plan for more information

⁹Goal tracks primary plastic packaging in PepsiCo’s key packaging markets. This scope represents more than 80% of PepsiCo’s 2024 global plastic packaging footprint (by weight) 

¹⁰Goal tracks primary and secondary packaging in PepsiCo’s key packaging markets. This scope represents more than 85% of PepsiCo’s 2024 global packaging footprint (by weight). Reusable packaging must also be designed to be recyclable or compostable