Mars pledges to make chocolate bars carbon neutral by 2023

The change will apply to confectionary sold in the UK, Ireland and Canada

Mars pledges to make chocolate bars sold in the UK carbon neutral by 2023 (Getty Images)

The creator of the Mars chocolate bar has announced that it plans to make the confectionary carbon neutral by 2023.

In an announcement on Wednesday, 3 November, Mars, Incorporated said “critical actions” are needed to address the “health and sustainability of our planet”.

“That’s why we are proud to announce that all Mars bars sold in the UK, Ireland and Canada will be certified as carbon neutral by 2023,” the statement said.

The brand estimated that this will apply to 220 million Mars bars a year.

The move comes as part of chocolate maker’s pledge to achieve net zero greenhouse gases by 2050.

As it stands, it claims to have reduced its carbon footprint in the UK by 67 per cent since 2015.

The carbon footprint of an organisation is the total amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of its operations.

This includes every step of the supply chain, from the sourcing of raw materials, to packaging, and to transporting goods to retail stores.

In Canada, the Mars bar is produced in a factory that sends zero waste to landfill, and has installed energy saving equipment which recaptures heat from operations to heat the building.

The brand will also tackle emissions that it produces through its reliance on agricultural supply chains.

To reduce these, it said it will “tackle deforestation” and change how it sources its raw materials.

Additionally, by the end of 2022, “100 per cent of suppliers providing dairy for the Mars bar in the UK will have a program to reduce their on-farm greenhouse gas impacts”, the company said.

“We know that we must continue to make purposeful climate interventions. And we know that to create a world tomorrow where the planet is healthy, we must continue to take bold action,” it added.

The news comes as leaders across the globe attend the highly-anticipated Cop26 conference in Glasgow, where they are discussing ways to tackle the climate crisis.

On Wednesday, organisers faced criticism on social media for providing a menu which is made up of mostly meat, dairy and fish.

The menus, which highlighted the carbon footprint of each meal, showed that meat options like the beef burger or haggis, produced 3kg more carbon dioxide than some vegan dishes, such as an organic kale and seasonal vegetable pasta.