Starbucks retreats from green goals amid $2bn cost drive

{"text":[[{"start":8.34,"text":"Starbucks has scaled back or scrapped green goals and fired sustainability staff as the early mover on climate commitments pursues $2bn in cost cuts."}],[{"start":18.12,"text":"The coffee shop chain has revised or dropped pledges to halve water use and waste, while a goal to cut carbon emissions by 50 per cent is under review."}],[{"start":27.16,"text":"The pullback comes amid a broader US corporate retreat from environmental commitments as political pressure rose under President Donald Trump and ambitious targets prove hard to meet. But Starbucks stands out because few companies made sustainability so central to their corporate identity."}],[{"start":42.64,"text":"The Seattle-based group announced its targets in 2020, when then chief executive Kevin Johnson declared in a public letter that “sustainability has been at Starbucks’ core since the beginning and consistent with our belief that we can build a great business that scales for good”."}],[{"start":57.6,"text":"The letter, which pledged transparency about its progress, is no longer on the company’s website, while many targets were absent or amended in Starbucks’ annual Global Impact Report published this summer."}],[{"start":68.04,"text":"Instead, the report said Starbucks had adopted a “more focused set of sustainability goals”, without detailing changes to previous commitments."}],[{"start":76.76,"text":"The report omitted its target for water used in direct operations and coffee production, although it reiterated a separate goal to help 5mn people obtain clean water, sanitation and hygiene."}],[{"start":88.24,"text":"The previous year’s report put annual water withdrawal at roughly 500bn litres. The latest only disclosed 53bn litres in “operational” withdrawals, a far narrower measure."}],[{"start":99.68,"text":"Its target for waste sent to landfill was also absent, as was updated waste data. The previous report said Starbucks generated 681,000 tonnes of landfill waste in 2024, 6 per cent more than in 2019."}],[{"start":114.72,"text":"Starbucks had also aimed to slash by 50 per cent its use of “virgin fossil fuel-derived sources” in customer packaging by 2030. It now aims to cut “virgin plastics” across all packaging by 5 per cent. A goal for recycled material to make up half of customer packaging has also been cut to a quarter, “dependent on recycled content availability”."}],[{"start":134.72,"text":"Starbucks has retained a goal to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from a 2019 baseline, including indirect “scope three” emissions whose sources include farming and manufacturing."}],[{"start":146.52,"text":"But the report said the group was “actively reassessing” that target because of emerging regulations, changes to standards and other “headwinds” that made it harder to achieve. Starbucks said it expected to announce a “new science-aligned goal” and strategy to achieve it in early 2027."}],[{"start":165.28,"text":"Kelly Poole, climate and energy co-ordinator at shareholder sustainability advocacy group As You Sow, said this suggested “they are considering dropping it”, adding that other companies’ retreat from green goals may have made Starbucks “feel like it’s OK to follow suit”."}],[{"start":182.04,"text":"Starbucks’ total emissions in 2025 were 7 per cent higher than in 2019, according to the report."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":188.6,"text":"The company has expanded since 2019, meaning its baristas are handing over more cups — and potential waste — to consumers. Many cold drinks, which now make up two-thirds of the beverages Starbucks sells, are served in clear plastic cups that can be difficult to recycle."}],[{"start":205,"text":"A recent test by environmental group Beyond Plastics found that none of Starbucks’ polypropylene cold beverage cups were recycled despite being designated as recyclable. The company took issue with the test, saying the electronic trackers that Beyond Plastics attached to cups may have changed how they were handled."}],[{"start":223,"text":"The company continues to promote its environmental work. Three executives spoke at New York’s Climate Week last week."}],[{"start":230.2,"text":"The changes come as Brian Niccol, chief executive since 2024, pursues $2bn in cost reductions as part of a turnaround plan he calls Back to Starbucks."}],[{"start":241,"text":"Starbucks’ more than 2,000 corporate job cuts over the past two years included people on its sustainability team and others working on sustainability in other teams, according to a person close to the company. Among them was chief sustainability officer Marika McCauley Sine, who was replaced by Kelly Goodejohn, whose title expanded to chief sustainability and social impact officer."}],[{"start":262.04,"text":"“Progress isn’t always linear, and some of the challenges we’re working to address are complex,” Goodejohn wrote on LinkedIn in July."}],[{"start":270.52,"text":"Katie Herod, a former strategy principal in global coffee who was laid off in May, wrote on LinkedIn that the company once “lived its mission and values so overtly it almost felt like a cult” but had recently changed."}],[{"start":280.56,"text":"“Lately, the philosophy feels different,” she wrote. “Repeated lay-offs. Gutting of the sustainability and ethical sourcing teams.”"}],[{"start":287.88,"text":"“Sustainability — anything beyond compliance — is not on Brian’s ‘Back to Starbucks’ agenda,” Herod told the FT."}],[{"start":295.8,"text":"Starbucks has retained some sustainability commitments, including a goal to make all customer-facing packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2030. It also surpassed a goal of having more than 10,000 stores certified to meet green standards by 2025."}],[{"start":313.66,"text":"“As part of our Back to Starbucks work, we took a fresh, comprehensive look at our sustainability goals — grounded in what we’ve achieved and what we’ve learnt, including about the broader landscape and external systems,” its latest impact report said."}],[{"start":332.52,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1790661538_5640.mp3"}