As a growing number of people decide to switch careers to work on climate change, we’re running a series of interviews with people in climate-related jobs about their day-to-day work, from Microsoft’s Melanie Nakagawa and Google’s Kate Brandt to carbon removal-startup founder Mary Yap.
Mars, the multibillion-dollar candy and pet food giant, plans to cut its emissions in half by the end of the decade and reach net zero by 2050. To get there, it’s finding ways to end deforestation in its supply chain, experimenting with new products like cat food made from insects, and starting to use refillable packaging—while also fending off the threat that climate change could pose to foods like chocolate. We talked to Amanda Davies, chief procurement and sustainability officer at Mars Wrigley (the snack side of the business), about her work on climate change.
Your job is unusual because you’re leading both sustainability and procurement. Why did Mars combine those roles?
The majority of our impact is in the extended supply chain. And so, it just kind of makes perfect sense that the person that’s responsible for sourcing the raw materials is responsible for the impact of those materials on the planet and the people. It means whenever I talk to a supplier, they know that I’m talking about all aspects of value and impact that I care about.
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