Iconic Mars bar to be certified carbon neutral in UK, Ireland, & Canada by January 2023

Mars is committed to taking the critical actions needed to address the health and sustainability of our planet and firmly believes that engaging you – the consumer – in the fight against climate change is imperative.

The company recently released a statement saying, “We are proud to announce that all Mars bars sold in the UK, Ireland, and Canada will be certified carbon neutral by 2023. That’s over 220 million chocolate bars a year that will be carbon neutral.

This is a clear demonstration of our commitment to creating a sustainable tomorrow through how we do business today—and represents tangible climate action less than a month after we announced our pledge to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across our full Mars value chain 2050.

How are we going to make the Mars bar carbon neutral in the UK, Ireland, and Canada?

We are deeply committed to operating more sustainably.

For example, we have already reduced our carbon footprint from direct operations in the UK by 67% since 2015. We’re doing more, though—and next year in the UK, we’ll be removing a million miles from the roads through a new logistics program.

In Canada, the Mars bar, manufactured in Newmarket for over 30 years, is produced in a certified LEED Silver factory, sends zero waste to landfills, and incorporates several energy-saving initiatives, including recapturing heat from operations to heat the building.

A chunk of the Mars bar’s emissions is from our agricultural supply chains. To reduce these emissions, we’re taking decisive action to tackle deforestation, address land use and transform how we source raw materials.

As a result of supercharging our efforts to transform supply chain agricultural practices sustainably, namely cocoa and cows (and their burps!), the Mars bar will see a carbon footprint reduction of over 20% in the UK, Ireland, and Canada by 2023.

This includes using satellite data to geomap cocoa farms and accelerated partnerships with suppliers to produce dairy more sustainably.

For example, by the end of 2022, 100% of suppliers providing dairy for the Mars bar in the UK will have a program to reduce their on-farm greenhouse gas impacts. That’s everything from improving feed to using low emission manure application technology (it is a thing!).

High-quality carbon removal credits based on climate solutions like reforestation and land restoration will offset any emissions that cannot be eliminated.

We will work with an independent auditor to certify the Mars bar as carbon neutral and adhere to the PAS 2060 standard for carbon neutrality, which provides radical transparency and is widely considered the leading standard of carbon-neutral specification.

We’re proud that the Mars bar will be carbon neutral in the UK, Ireland, and Canada by 2023, but we’re clear that the job isn’t done, and it is certainly not time to down tools.