Richard Evans speaks out for green taxes
At the launch event for Aldersgate Group's latest report, Richard Evans spoke about the changes that need to be made to the UK's environmental tax framework to encourage more sustainable business practices. PepsiCo supports a tax framework which shifts the burden of tax towards green taxes, including introducing a floor price for carbon.
06 May 2010
Richard Evans, President of PepsiCo UK & Ireland, told his fellow Aldersgate members: "Businesses are poised to invest in sustainability but, as every businessperson will tell you, you need two things to invest: relative certainty and a practical policy framework."
He went on to reaffirm PepsiCo's commitment to environmental sustainability, outlining the damage that our business has already suffered because of changing environmental conditions. As a food company, we are critically reliant on a steady and reliable supply of agricultural produce. This was made clear in 2007 when floods in the UK ruined the potato crop that Walkers' crisps rely on.
In 2008 PepsiCo UK committed to ambitious environmental targets - making our business fossil free, unplugging our largest factories from the water mains, sending nothing to landfill across our entire supply chain and for our product packaging to be only renewable, recyclable or biodegradable.
We have made good progress since these commitments were announced - notably large reductions in energy consumption and landfill waste - but to achieve our long-term targets we need to transform our business. A tax framework, that penalises environmental damage and incentivises long-term investment is crucial for PepsiCo, and for the UK - if it is to become the world's first low carbon economy.
Read the full speech at Business Green.
Aldersgate Group's new report sets out their recommendations for the first 100 days of the next Government - how can the new parliament accelerate the economic benefits of the transition to a low carbon and resource efficient economy?
The report is available at the Aldersgate Group website.
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