Stakeholder & policy engagement
Driven by its desire to be a responsible partner to its clients and suppliers with common sustainability goals, Sodexo has been working collaboratively with a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including NGOs, government bodies, regulators, investors, and think tanks, not only to support the development and implementation of robust environmental standards, but also to actively contribute to climate-related policy advocacy.
Policy advocacy
Sodexo supports strong climate action through the participation in trade associations and partnerships with NGOs and other association.
At country level, Sodexo also engages with local associations and regulators. Sodexo is a member of AFEP (Association Française des Entreprises Privées), the French association of private companies. Sustainability is now a central priority for AFEP’s member companies: reduction of GHG emissions, acceleration of circular economy practices, control of industrial risks, and development of practical experimental approaches in conjunction with the public authorities. Sodexo Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer sits at the AFEP board.
World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) partnership
Sodexo has been a partner of WWF since 2010 to understand, measure and reduce its environmental footprint. Sodexo and WWF have carried out projects to address the climate urgency since then on deforestation, sustainable eating, responsible sourcing, and food waste. The partnership brings WWF’s technical expertise and thought leadership on sustainability to support further reducing the impact of Sodexo’s operations on the environment.
Sodexo and WWF also advocate jointly for stronger government regulation on topics such as sustainable food systems, deforestation, sustainable fish and seafood and food waste.
- 2010 WWF & Sodexo started working together on carbon and water issues, sustainable agriculture, and responsible sourcing of seafood
- 2013Building on the previous phase, this collaboration worked on setting targets and monitoring Sodexo progress. This phase also saw the launch of Sodexo's palm oil responsible sourcing policy
- 2016This partnership supported the renewal of Sodexo's Better Tomorrow roadmap, with the launch of Sodexo's new carbon target approved by the SBTi and the co-creation of a global framework for low-carbon meals
- 2020 A 2d decade of the partnership to re-enforce Sodexo's ability to deliver its carbon target and establish Sodexo's Sustainable Eating Strategy. Since 2022, WWF has been a strong supporter for the selection, the customization and deployment of Sodexo’s carbon trajectory tool.
- 2023Focus on expanding the adoption of low-carbon menus, increasing responsible sourcing, especially on seafood, and accelerating food waste reduction. WWF is also supporting Sodexo to measure water consumption across its operations and progress through Steps 1&2 of SBTN to measure dependencies and impacts on nature.
Other multi-stakeholder initiatives
Sodexo believes global decision-makers must work together to help ensure the future well-being of the planet. It therefore participates in numerous initiatives such as the Champions 12.3 coalition, ReFED, WRAP, the Consumer Goods Forum, REFRESH, and Food Service Europe. The Group is also a founding member of the International Food Waste Coalition, which fights food waste by way of its collaborative “farm-to-plate” approach.
Sodexo Climate & Nature actions go beyond emissions. We are progressively identifying other significant climate-related impacts across our value chain, including land use changes, and biodiversity loss associated with food production. Our operations also depend on climate-sensitive resources such as agricultural commodities, water availability, and energy supply. These dependencies are mapped across our business to anticipate disruption risks.
In Fiscal 2023, Sodexo conducted a Water Footprint Indicator as well as a water risk assessment to evaluate our impacts and dependencies to the water resource and assess the exposure of client's sites to water risks. In Fiscal 2024, Sodexo also conducted a nature and biodiversity risk assessment using the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) Steps 1&2 methodology. The SBTN assessment framework aims to identify priority locations, commodities and business units related to Water, Land Use, pollution and biodiversity. This assessment showed that 99% of Sodexo’s nature and biodiversity impact occurs in its supply chain. The assessment confirmed Sodexo’s supply chain focus in its biodiversity approach as well as its priority focus on deforestation and conversion and sustainable fish and seafood. The methodology and assessments results will allow Sodexo to further refine its strategy and targets in the coming years, these insights inform our sustainability roadmap and supplier engagement strategies.