ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - An investor group managing some $6.5 trillion on Tuesday called on six of the world’s largest fast food restaurants, including McDonald’s, KFC and Burger King, to reduce their planet-harming greenhouse gas emissions and water use. Companies selling burgers, chicken and milk products are trailing behind other high-emitting industries, like carmakers, in setting targets to clean up their supply chains and help meet the Paris Agreement to limit global warming, campaigners say. More than 80 investors - members of Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return (FAIRR), a network educating investors - wrote to the fast food giants calling on them to publicly set and monitor targets on GHG emissions and freshwater impacts. “Fast-food giants deliver speedy meals, but they have been super slow in responding to their out-sized environmental footprints,” said Mindy Lubber, head of Ceres, which lobbies for greener business practices and is backing the initiative. McDonald’s Corp told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that it set a target in 2018 to reduce emissions by 2030 that would be the “equivalent of taking 32 million passenger cars off the road for an entire year”. Yum Brands Inc - the owners of KFC - and Restaurant Brands International Inc - the owners of Burger King - did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Investors are increasingly judging companies according to ethical, sustainable and governance criteria, which they say are important factors in company performance. Livestock - largely cattle raised for beef and milk - are responsible for about 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says. But two-thirds of the world’s largest, publicly listed meat and livestock companies do not have targets for reducing their emissions, says FAIRR, which includes Canada’s BMO Global Asset Management and Britain’s Aviva Investors. “Investors who have signed on believe these risks threaten the long term viability of the quick service restaurant sector,” said Aarti Ramachandran, London-based FAIRR’s head of research. “The fact that investors with $6.5 trillion signed on is an indicator of how important this issue is,” she said, adding that some of the investors have fast food companies - a sector worth $570 billion - in their portfolios. Reporting By Thin Lei Win @thinink, Additional reporting by Benjamin Long in New York, Editing by Katy Migiro. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, and property rights. Visit www.trust.org
The Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return investor group, which manages $6.5tn, has called on fast food companies including Burger King, KFC and McDonald’s to cut water usage and greenhouse gas emissions. The 80-member group has requested the companies establish and monitor emissions targets and the impact on fresh water supplies. The firms have been “super slow” in tackling their environmental footprints, said Benjamin Long of green business practice lobby group, Ceres. McDonald’s previously announced an emissions reduction target, but campaigners said burger, chicken and milk companies are lagging other sectors in setting similar targets.