Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble, maker of Crest toothpaste and Charmin toilet paper, said Thursday its own operations will be climate neutral by 2030, extending a previous goal to reduce emissions by half over the next 10 years.
In order to fully bring emissions to zero, the company said it will rely on projects to offset emissions, including tree-planting initiatives. On Thursday the company said current estimates suggest it will have to offset or eliminate 30 million metric tons of carbon from its operations between 2020 and 2030.
“Climate change is happening, and action is needed now,” said David Taylor, P&G chairman, president, and CEO.
The company said it would aim to better understand the carbon emissions of its product throughout their lifetimes. It did not commit, however, to cutting “scope 3” emissions, or all emissions that are linked to either the upstream production or downstream use of a product—the emissions from running a dishwasher or a washing machine, for example. Eighty-five percent of P&G’s emissions come from the consumer use of its products, the company said.
P&G said it is encouraging consumers to change their own habits, including running laundry loads at cooler temperatures, to cut emissions produced while using the product.
The announcement is part of a wave of climate commitments from consumer goods brands. In June, Unilever, the U.K.-based consumer giant, said it would target net zero emissions across all its products by 2039, which covers emissions from the sourcing of materials up to their purchase. The company had already committed to halving its emissions across its own operations by 2030.
