Cadbury Schweppes announced it will publish data on greenhouse gas emissions from across its global supply chain, as part of plans to reduce its carbon footprint by 50 per cent.

According to Confectionery News, the announcement, made as a commitment to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), would require all of Cadbury's hundreds of suppliers to report information such as greenhouse gas emissions data, reduction targets and climate change strategies.

Like other food companies, the world's largest confectionery maker cannot ignore regulatory, consumer and investor pressures to reduce manufacturers' impact on the environment.


Paul Dickenson, CDP chief executive, praised Cadbury for taking this "significant milestone" and called on other companies to follow the example.

Cadbury already reports on its manufacturing CO2 emissions and earlier this year set an absolute target of reducing carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2020. The company also set targets for packaging and water-use reduction.

"By engaging its supply chain in the CDP process, Cadbury Schweppes will encourage its suppliers to measure and manage their greenhouse gas emissions, and ultimately reduce the total carbon footprint of Cadbury Schweppes' indirect emissions," Dickenson said.

He also admitted that the move was also a strategic step for the company as "investors use the quality of a disclosure as a very useful tool to assess how seriously a company is taking the issues of climate change".