In an announcement urging the business community and global leaders at COP22 to implement the targets agreed on last year in Paris for tackling climate change, Mars Inc. has also announced plans for a wind farm in Mexico – its third major wind energy commitment.
According to the company, Mars is aiming to eliminate all fossil fuel use from its operations by 2040, and now, the company is encouraging leaders to do the same by setting ambitious goals that go beyond the national targets agreed at COP21.
Barry Parkin, Mars Inc.’s chief sustainability and health and well-being officer, says, “This is an important moment in global political and economic history, and we absolutely must come together to solve the immense challenges facing the planet. Climate change, water scarcity and deforestation are serious threats to society. It is imperative that global businesses, like Mars, do their part to face down those threats.”
Mars’ new wind farm in Mexico is the latest in a series of major renewable electricity projects. In just over a year, Mars has announced three new wind projects across three continents:
- In 2015, Mars opened its 118-turbine wind farm at Mesquite Creek, Texas, which now generates the equivalent of 100% of the electricity needed to power the entirety of the Mars U.S. operations;
- In 2016, Mars announced a partnership with Eneco to activate a 20-turbine wind farm in Scotland that is providing electricity from renewable sources equal to what’s required to power all of its U.K. operations; and
- In 2017, Mars will activate its new wind farm partnership with Vive Energia and Envision to provide the equivalent of 100% of the electricity required to power its five plants in Mexico – located in Querétaro, Nuevo León and Jalisco – a project that is expected to drive a greenhouse-gas reduction of over 25,000 tons of CO2-e.
Damian Ryan, acting CEO of The Climate Group, says, “This latest announcement is another piece in the jigsaw for achieving its goal of 100 percent renewable energy globally by 2040. The move will also help to develop a growing renewables market in Mexico. It sends a clear signal of support to the Yucatan government that demand for renewables is rising and that there’s an alternative to using polluting fossil fuels in this environmentally sensitive area.”
At COP21 in Paris, Mars joined several chief executives of the world’s top food companies to publish an open letter to global leaders pledging individual and collaborative action on climate change and urging governments to forge clear international agreements at the meeting.
Also last year, Mars signed on to the American Business Act on Climate, led by the White House, which aims to rally business, government, academic, technical and scientific communities to tackle climate change in the U.S. and on a global scale.
