Stakeholder engagement for creating shared value
When we listen, we improve.
That is why we regularly engage with and respond to a wide range of stakeholders at a local, regional, national and international level, to set the priorities for our Creating Shared Value strategy and support our intention to advance regenerative food systems at scale.
Key terms explained
Net zero
In 2019, we announced our ambition to reach net zero GHG emissions by 2050 at the latest. In 2026, we updated our timebound plan, the Nestlé Roots of Net Zero (pdf, 14Mb), which underpins our Group’s climate and nature strategy and acts as our transition plan aligned with a 1.5°C pathway as validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). We will balance any remaining emissions through high-quality nature-based solutions, such as agroforestry, silvopasture and the restoration of forests and peatland. Read more about net zero.
Creating Shared Value (CSV)
How we work towards delivering long-term positive impact for all our stakeholders.
Advancing regenerative food systems at scale
Nestlé’s intention to advance regenerative food systems at scale means:
Net zero
In 2019, we announced our ambition to reach net zero GHG emissions by 2050 at the latest. In 2026, we updated our timebound plan, the Nestlé Roots of Net Zero (pdf, 14Mb), which underpins our Group’s climate and nature strategy and acts as our transition plan aligned with a 1.5°C pathway as validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). We will balance any remaining emissions through high-quality nature-based solutions, such as agroforestry, silvopasture and the restoration of forests and peatland. Read more about net zero.
Creating Shared Value (CSV)
How we work towards delivering long-term positive impact for all our stakeholders.
Advancing regenerative food systems at scale
Nestlé’s intention to advance regenerative food systems at scale means:
- Advancing: by raising Nestlé’s voice and using its influence to drive progress, in collaboration with others.
- Regenerative food systems: that go beyond reducing harm to actively restoring ecological systems, while at the same time strengthening the social, economic and human rights foundations that food production depends on - so that food systems can sustain nature, people and livelihoods over the long term.
- At scale: because the planet, communities and individuals need global, systems-level change.
Read more about regenerative food systems.
We seek experts and advocates to strengthen our business
Our global stakeholder network consists of the people our operations impact and those who influence our activities.
Stakeholder meetings, workshops and other events help us deepen dialogue and develop our understanding of important societal issues. These interactions help our teams build their capabilities, facilitate collective action, and promote trust and mutual respect.
We identify the following groups as fundamental to our continuing business success:
- Academia
- Communities
- Consumers and the general public
- Civil society organizations
- Customers
- Employees and their representatives
- Governments
- Industry and trade associations
- Intergovernmental organizations
- Nongovernmental organizations
- Rating agencies
- Shareholders and the financial community
- Suppliers (including farmers and smallholders)
We engage with stakeholders to stay on top of issues
Engaging with stakeholders is important to setting priorities for our Creating Shared Value strategy and Roots of Net Zero climate and nature strategy and transition plan (pdf, 14Mb). Their feedback informs our approach to activities, reporting and disclosure, and underpins our materiality assessment process.
We also consult regularly with our CSV Council, an external advisory council formed in 2009. The Council provides advice to the Executive Board to ensure the sound development of our strategies. It has no formal governance role.
Our key topics for stakeholder engagement
We engage with our stakeholders through a variety of platforms and on a range of topics.
Climate change
We support progressive climate policies, aligned with the Paris Agreement’s objective of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Through our support and participation in efforts by the Business for Nature and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), UN FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Investment initiative, One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B), and others, we remain proactive and transparent about our commitment to climate action.
Packaging
We engage with others in pursuit of better packaging and better systems — two of the key pillars of our packaging circularity strategy.
For better packaging, we are innovating and collaborating with industrial partners to help develop new materials and solutions, eliminate problematic packaging and design packaging to be compatible with relevant recycling systems. We achieved 87.5% of our plastic packaging designed for recycling systems and continue to work on improving packaging recyclability or reusability in 2025. Toward our 2025 goal to reduce virgin plastics, we achieved 28% reduction in our use of virgin plastics compared with our 2018 baseline.
As we seek to contribute to better systems, we support governments to accelerate development of recycling infrastructure. We are also advocating, with others, for a Global Plastics Treaty and well-functioning Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes. Through our Plastic Recovery and Recycling Plan, we facilitate initiatives at a country level to support the transition towards well-designed EPR systems, particularly through scalable partnerships and collaborative actions.
Read more in the Packaging Sustainability Strategy (pdf, 12Mb).
Learn more in the Environmental Disclosures section of our 2025 Non-Financial Statement (pdf, 16Mb).
Key terms explained
Packaging Designed for Recycling (D4R)
Refers to packaging materials and formats which are compliant with our Negative List and aligned with the Golden Design Rules.
Recyclable
As defined in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation definitions, a packaging or packaging component is recyclable if it is successfully post-consumer collected, sorted and recycled with a recycling rate of 30% in multiple regions, collectively representing more than 400 million inhabitants.
Reusable
Following ISO 18603, reusable is the characteristic of a product or packaging that has been conceived and designed to accomplish within its lifecycle a certain number of trips, rotations or uses for the same purpose for which it was conceived. The weight of reusable packaging is defined by the total weight of reusable packaging, divided by the number of expected rotations over the entire life of the package.
Packaging Designed for Recycling (D4R)
Refers to packaging materials and formats which are compliant with our Negative List and aligned with the Golden Design Rules.
Recyclable
As defined in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation definitions, a packaging or packaging component is recyclable if it is successfully post-consumer collected, sorted and recycled with a recycling rate of 30% in multiple regions, collectively representing more than 400 million inhabitants.
Reusable
Following ISO 18603, reusable is the characteristic of a product or packaging that has been conceived and designed to accomplish within its lifecycle a certain number of trips, rotations or uses for the same purpose for which it was conceived. The weight of reusable packaging is defined by the total weight of reusable packaging, divided by the number of expected rotations over the entire life of the package.
Biodiversity
Consistent with our corporate goals, we support government action to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030 in line with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Working closely with a team from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Nespresso has worked on a biodiversity performance framework to identify species, habitats and related ecosystems services that are priorities for company actions across coffee landscapes.
Nutrition
We believe collective action is key to improving consumer awareness of the nutritional profiles of foods and to expanding access to affordable nutrition.
We are developing and participating in several initiatives to advance consumer nutrition and continue to advocate for industry-wide action.
Water
Nestlé has been a member of the 2030 Water Resources Group (2030 WRG) consortium from the start. The Consortium supports investment in solutions intended to contribute to water security. Since 2008, we have been part of the CEO Water Mandate, a UN Global Compact initiative that unites business leaders on water, sanitation and Sustainable Development Goals.
We also partner with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), governments and peers at watershed level to contribute to collective action on river basin management and restoration.
Responsible sourcing
Many of the environmental and social challenges that we face in our agricultural supply chains require long-term interventions and multi-stakeholder collaboration to tackle root causes and have greater impact.
To drive collective action, we participate in a number of industry and multi-stakeholder platforms, such as the Consumer Goods Forum’s Forest Positive and Human Rights Coalitions of Action or the Institute for Human Rights and Business’s Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment.
Key terms explained
Responsible sourcing
For Nestlé, responsible sourcing means improving the traceability of our ingredients and monitoring how they are produced. This involves applying our environmental and human rights requirements - detailed in our Responsible Sourcing Core Requirements (pdf, 2Mb) - at the different stages of our supply chain. Examples of these requirements include that land and resources of Indigenous Peoples and local communities are respected, and that no deforestation and no conversion of forests and other ecosystems occur in our supply chain. Read more about responsible sourcing.
Responsible sourcing
For Nestlé, responsible sourcing means improving the traceability of our ingredients and monitoring how they are produced. This involves applying our environmental and human rights requirements - detailed in our Responsible Sourcing Core Requirements (pdf, 2Mb) - at the different stages of our supply chain. Examples of these requirements include that land and resources of Indigenous Peoples and local communities are respected, and that no deforestation and no conversion of forests and other ecosystems occur in our supply chain. Read more about responsible sourcing.
Nestlé needs YOUth
Through the Global Alliance for YOUth, we are driving local solutions, aiming to benefit young people across the world by helping them gain access to apprenticeships, traineeships and job opportunities.
We are focusing on key themes such as resilience and agility, as well as how to attract young people to careers in farming and nurturing agripreneurs.
