Wendy’s on Thursday rolled a series of commitments toward climate initiatives, including a broad plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1, 2, and 3) by 47 percent across its system. It’s a plan that’s going to cover company operations, franchisees, and top suppliers through 2030.

• Compared to a 2019 base year, the 2030 view includes:
• Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 47 percent
• Reduce Scope 3 GHG emissions intensity by 47 percent per metric ton of purchased goods
• Reduce Scope 3 GHG emissions intensity by 47 percent per franchise restaurant

Wendy's estimated achieving this mark would avoid roughly 7.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent compared to business as usual, which is equal to removing more than 1.5 million gas-powered vehicles from the road in a single year.  

Through the process of setting its Scope 3 science-based targets, Wendy's identified two areas of focus for emissions reductions: purchased goods and franchised restaurants. Purchased goods, such as food and packaging, represent nearly 85 percent of the System's Scope 3 emissions, the company says, while Wendy's more than 6,500 franchised restaurants contribute about 10 percent of Scope 3 emissions.

As shared by Wendy’s, areas of focus will center around:

• Identifying projects that enable a renewable energy transition, soil health restoration and manure management, among other objectives
• Collaborating with suppliers in scope for Wendy's goal related to Responsible Sourcing to identify ways to reduce emissions or sequester carbon in their operations and shared supply chain
• Developing a renewable electricity procurement strategy across the Wendy's System, starting with participation in Duke Energy Florida's Clean Energy Connection pilot program, which supplies select company restaurants with solar energy
• Partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Buildings Initiative to benchmark utility data for company restaurants and franchisees, leading to greater efficiency and energy savings
• Improving energy efficiency through equipment retrofits and upgrades in company-operated restaurants and at Wendy's Restaurant Support Center
• Leveraging Wendy's Global Next Gen design standard for new restaurant builds, which is approximately 10 percent more energy efficient than Wendy's most common existing restaurant format
• Exploring place-based projects that assist suppliers in adopting more climate-friendly practices and are tailored to local and/or regional ecosystems
• Transitioning company-operated restaurants and Wendy's Restaurant Support Center to use refrigerants with a lower global warming potential, while sharing best practices for franchisee adoption

QSR caught up with Liliana Esposito, Wendy’s chief corporate affairs and sustainability officer, to learn more about the ambitious goals and how Wendy’s plans to get there.

Take us through some of Wendy’s new goals and benchmarks announced. What are some of the key ones to follow?

Wendy’s has set near-term science-based targets to reduce Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions across its global system–a milestone on our company’s climate journey. The goals, which were recently validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), underscore Wendy’s commitment to delivering more to our customers with a smaller environmental footprint.

Wendy’s goal is to cut absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 47 percent by 2030 from a 2019 base year and reduce Scope 3 GHG emissions intensity by 47 percent per franchise restaurant and by 47 percent per metric ton of purchased goods over the same target period. Reducing Scope 3 emissions is critical to our climate action, given Scope 3 emissions represent most of Wendy’s total base year emissions, as 95 percent of our global restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees and our global supply chain is predominantly based in agriculture.

What are some ways Wendy’s will work with operators, suppliers, and at the corporate level to make these goals happen?

To reach these goals, Wendy’s will work throughout its system, including company operations, and cooperatively with franchisees and suppliers, to turn commitment into action. Despite commercial demand outpacing available supply for renewable electricity, we are refining and advancing a broader renewable energy procurement strategy across the Wendy’s System, starting with participation in Duke Energy Florida’s Clean Energy Connection pilot program, which supplies select company restaurants in Florida with solar energy.

Collaboration is critical to achieving energy reductions and global efforts to reduce emissions, particularly when we have less direct control of emissions reduction practices. Purchased goods, such as food and packaging, represent the majority of our Scope 3 emissions at nearly 85 percent, with beef, chicken, dairy and pork the most significant contributors. 

One way we are approaching value chain emissions reductions is through our responsible sourcing goal to responsibly source our top 10 priority food categories by 2030 in the U.S. and Canada. This goal aims to address many environmental indicators, including emissions and water. We will continue to collaborate with suppliers in scope for this sourcing goal to identify ways to reduce emissions or sequester carbon in their operations and shared supply chain.   

We take pride in our strong relationships with franchisees, which are instrumental in delivering on our commitments. Since 2015, Wendy’s has invited franchisees within and outside the U.S. to undertake energy efficiency improvements and track and report their energy consumption through the Wendy’s Energy Challenge. The 20 franchisees participating in the Wendy’s Energy Challenge as of the end of 2022 represent a total footprint of 3.7 million square feet. Looking to the future, we plan to partner with our more than 6,500 franchised restaurants.

How vital is it for restaurant companies to set these types of figures and actively work toward achieving them? Just from your perspective, how has the urgency behind environmental and climate initiatives changed in recent years?

Brands can only thrive and endure for the long term when they operate sustainably, and we take our role to be a good steward of our limited resources seriously. Across the business community, organizations are increasingly tracking, reporting, and aggressively cutting emissions throughout the broader value chain. This urgency underscores the importance of looking beyond our company operations and working alongside suppliers and franchisees to account for and reduce Scope 3 emissions. As a leader in the [quick-service] industry, we recognize the importance and urgency to do our fair share to slow global warming.

By setting a 1.5°C-aligned target for our Scope 1 and 2 emissions, currently the most ambitious designation available through the SBTi validation process, Wendy’s is ensuring our climate action is in line with the latest science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We are proud of our commitment and are looking forward to continuing our journey.

How is the Global Next Gen design built toward these goals?

We recently introduced Wendy’s Global Next Gen design standard for new restaurant builds, which is approximately 10 percent more energy efficient than Wendy’s most common existing restaurant format. To achieve this, these new restaurants will use more efficient building elements such as lighting and HVAC.

What kind of progress has Wendy’s made from 2019 to now?

Our work started with getting our arms around the emissions generated from company operations, our Scope 1 and 2 emissions, covering direct company emissions and indirect emissions derived from energy sources. We initiated greenhouse gas data collection in our operations in 2019 and, using that data, we reported our 2020 climate data to the CDP Climate Change Disclosure.

In 2021, Wendy’s committed to and began executing on a climate roadmap, with the goal of establishing a science-based target by the end of 2023 and creating interim milestones. We also conducted a lifecycle assessment to evaluate Scope 3 emissions from our entire value chain in 2021 and, for the first time, reported those emissions starting with 2021 data. With the publication of Wendy’s near-term science-based targets today, we have completed our climate roadmap nearly a year ahead of schedule.  

While reaching these milestones on our climate journey, we are continuing to work to identify projects that would help reduce emissions. In 2022, we started procuring renewable energy through our participation in Duke Energy Florida’s Clean Energy Connection pilot program, which supplies certain company restaurants in Florida with solar energy. Learnings from our participation in this program will help to inform future transitions to renewable energy.