Lion announces 2050 goal for a net-zero value chain

Lion has doubled down on its carbon reduction strategy despite the many challenges it faced throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The large-scale brewer, which employs nearly 4000 people across the US, New Zealand and Australia, committed to achieve a net-zero value chain by 2050 in its 2020 Sustainability Report.

“The release of the 2020 Sustainability Report was an important milestone for the company and reflects a number of significant social and environmental achievements, despite the many challenges that 2020 presented,” Lion’s Group General Counsel and Sustainability Director Libby Davidson said.

“Our core purpose is all about sociability and helping people to live well. Considering the disruption we have all faced over the last year as we’ve navigated the impacts of the pandemic, this purpose has never felt more important.”

Key achievements highlighted in the report include Lion becoming Australia’s first carbon neutral brewer in April 2020, more than $1 million in donations contributed towards bushfire relief and more than $30 million credited to venues Australia-wide for unused kegs due to COVID-19 closures.

However, the pandemic severely hampered the company’s ability to achieve its community support goals with volunteering hours and community investment progressing well below expectations. The company had also closed its West End Brewery in South Australia due to a sustained period of decline in the mainstream beer market.

“We know this has been a particularly tough time for our team in South Australia and we have worked with those impacted to support them through this change,” said Lion CEO Stuart Irvine in the report.

“Despite the challenges the year presented, we were able to deliver several key strategic environmental and social priorities as highlighted throughout this report.”

Davidson said that while the report offers the company’s customers, suppliers and consumers a good overview of its sustainability activity throughout 2020, she also thought it was important to share the vision for the future.

“As a business, we recognise the need to move fast on climate change. Lion has committed to a net zero value chain by 2050. We recognise a net zero value chain commitment involves our suppliers, and indeed our customers, and we look forward to working collaboratively across the industry so we can measure and reduce our collective lifecycle emissions.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Stanislav Loginov