Below you will find the interview with Jan-Marteen.

He is the Director Net-Zero for the Heineken Brewery. Kornelis Blok had a conversation with him where he shares his current challenges in steering a very large company and its processes towards net-zero by 2030. We are sure you are going to learn a lot from his experience.

Check it out!

Key takeaways

• Jan-Maarten’s mission is to deliver net-zero targets in all Heineken production units worldwide by 2030, which effectively means removing all carbon emissions from production. That is Scope 1 and Scope 2, which must be aligned to the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi).
• Even though the process of making beer is very similar at most sites of the company, every site is different in terms of installed equipment, local geography, and also heritage. Therefore, a basic blueprint of the reduction processes was developed, for example, good practices and methods that can be applied to reduce the overall energy demands. However, each site receives a tailored set of solutions that work only for that site.
• In terms of governance, the company has a series of steering committee meetings which are connected to the board of Heineken. And what they do is help in providing clear guidance to the operating units, but also by setting challenging targets and embedding carbon reduction performance into the initiatives and incentives of the brewery managers and senior management. Moreover, the company also have a very strong regional government organised in four regions within Heineken, the Asia Pacific region, the European region, the North and South America region and Africa Middle East. Through those regions they influence each of the different production locations and countries where the company operates.
• Jan-Maarten’s advice is to remain critical about greenwashing. For him, climate neutrality for me is something different than net-zero. Climate neutrality means you can still buy forests or offset your carbon net. Zero for me means that you cannot escape and “real solutions” must be found within the locations and processes of the company.