LAHORE: Nestlé Pakistan recently published its sustainability report for 2020: ‘Nestlé in Society: Creating Shared Value (CSV), highlighting its three main global focus areas: for individuals and families, for communities, and for the planet, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Highlighting Nestlé’s CSV philosophy, Samer Chedid, CEO, Nestlé Pakistan, said, “Creating Shared Value remains the fundamental guiding principle for how we do business. We believe that we will be successful in the long term by creating value for both our shareholders and for society.”
“The health of our company is intrinsically linked to the health and resilience of the society we operate in; this is why Nestlé’s purpose is to unlock the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come” Chedid added.
Chedid further pointed out Nestlé Pakistan’s CSV initiatives were geared towards addressing the challenges faced by the country. “We are taking steps and introducing various initiatives in our manufacturing units and beyond, to exhibit Respect for the Future. Our global focus areas are firmly embedded in our purpose, and our efforts in each of these areas are in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Chedid said.
The year 2020 witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic which had a profound impact across the globe as well as in Pakistan. Nestlé Pakistan supported vulnerable communities through product and cash donations worth 100 million rupees in its national response to the COVID-19 pandemic to meet the nutritional needs of both affectees and frontline workers.
The Nestlé for Healthier Kids (N4HK) program, in light of the malnutrition challenges the country faces, reached out to more than 250,000 children this year, training over 1300 teachers on nutrition awareness in 310 schools across the country, in line with UN SDG 3 (Good Health & Well Being).
Another CSV project, the Nestlé-BISP Rural Women Sales Program, under the government’s Ehsaas program, has helped more than 1500 BISP beneficiaries work as rural sales agents. Meanwhile, Nestlé Pakistan’s partnership with Akhuwat to improve beneficiaries’ access to microfinancing, has enabled 147 rural women scale up their
Microenterprises, as part of Nestlé’s commitment to UN SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and 8
(Decent Work & Economic Growth).
Talking about Nestlé Pakistan’s other sustainability initiatives, Waqar Ahmad, Head of Corporate Affairs & Sustainability, Nestlé Pakistan said, “Our Global Sustainability Roadmap focuses on four pillars, Climate Change; Sustainable Packaging; Caring for Water and Responsible Sourcing.”
“We are working hard to achieve a waste-free future by ensuring that 100% of our packaging is recyclable or reusable by 2025 and remain committed to tackling climate change by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (by half) and achieving net zero by 2050,” he said.
Water is a shared and precious resource to be managed sustainably by all users. Geared towards water stewardship, Nestlé Pakistan’s ‘Caring for Water – Pakistan’ initiative with organizations such as LUMS, UVAS, WWF Pakistan, SDPI and PARC has helped save 428 million liters of water in 2020 by installing drip irrigation system on 152 acres, in line with UN SDG 6 and 17.
“To help realize our vision for a waste-free future, we are accelerating our actions to tackle packaging waste. We also partnered with the World Bank Group and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government to launch “Travel Responsibly for Experiencing Ecotourism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TREK)” for promoting Responsible Tourism through awareness campaigns and training of local communities,” Waqar added.
The company also continued with the Clean Hunza Project in partnership with district administration, Gilgit-Baltistan Waste Management Company and Karakoram Area Development Organization. The project focuses on waste segregation and recycling system for Hunza and Gilgit by encouraging waste management of plastics to make Hunza and Gilgit waste-free and promote sustainable tourism in the region.