Approach

Understanding our progress against our pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) agenda requires that we capture performance data across our global operations. This encompasses numerous metrics that are used internally and disclosed externally in varying ways.

Our external ESG reporting provides comprehensive data to inform stakeholders about our performance, demonstrate transparency and share progress towards achieving our pep+ goals. Our stakeholders use this information to make decisions about investments, partnerships, employment and purchases. These stakeholders include: 

• sustainability rating and ranking groups; 
• investors;
• current and potential employees;
• non-governmental organizations (NGOs); 
• customers; and 
• consumers. 
  

Internally, we use performance data to inform our ESG strategy, gauge goal progress and prioritize investments and other actions that we believe will help us to achieve our goals.

A dedicated team within PepsiCo’s Global Sustainability Office manages the data governance structure underpinning each of our pep+ goals, aiming to ensure accuracy and consistency of the data, while also aiming to drive accountability amongst local teams. This team works closely with partners across the company to gather information according to an established methodology and governance process. Targeted training helps to instill an understanding of the importance of following this process and ultimately delivering accurate ESG data and reporting. 

Data governance includes documenting the processes and methodologies we use to gather and aggregate data in a way that is consistent and repeatable. This allows us to accumulate year-over-year metrics to identify trends and long-term progress. For more detail on how we calculate key performance metrics, see Calculation methodology. Before ESG performance is communicated externally, it undergoes a thorough review and validation process:

1. Sustainability Office review and validation: Data files are reviewed by the dedicated Data Governance team to ensure information has been gathered in accordance with our topic-specific documented sustainability data governance calculation methods. The data governance documentation identifies specified controls throughout the data collection process.
2. Subject Matter Expert review and certification: Subject matter experts certify that data is accurate, and complete and fulsome. This occurs at multiple levels throughout the organization, from those who manage the primary data sources to executives who review at the regional and global levels. This approach drives consistent accountability across all sustainability goals.
3. ESG Control review: PepsiCo’s ESG Control team reviews ESG information to provide secondary oversight of financial, sustainability and other claims specific to PepsiCo.
4. Legal review: PepsiCo’s Corporate Legal team and legal subject matter experts review the proposed disclosure to ensure it is accurate and appropriate. 
5. Disclosure Committee review: PepsiCo's Disclosure Committee (comprised of executive leadership) and relevant senior leaders review our ESG Summary, Green Bond Use of Proceeds report and certain other public disclosures before publication.

In addition to our internal review process, some focus areas — including but not limited to water, climate, energy, packaging and product portfolio metrics — are reviewed and verified annually by external third-parties. Assurance statements are available in the downloads section and on relevant topic pages. For more detail on our approach to assurance, including a list of independently-verified metrics, see About our reporting.

Progress

We regularly review and enhance our data management process to identify and implement improvements to build on the strong data governance foundation we already have in place.

Science-based targets

PepsiCo aims to set science-based targets to support our pep+ ambitions. We expect to refine our targets in line with the latest environmental science and continue to enhance our data governance processes as required to maintain confidence in our ESG reporting.

Data automation and digital collaboration

With a vast and complex performance data set, we continue to invest in technical solutions to efficiently capture, consolidate and validate the data we use to measure and report performance against goals. We are streamlining and automating manual processes to improve reliability and efficiency.

For example, we are leveraging technology to improve data integrity through an automated controls framework to review, monitor and evaluate certain ESG data to identify unexpected values and flag entries requiring further interrogation. By using technology to automate a formerly manual process, we are improving efficiency, increasing data confidence and significantly reducing the time required to review sustainability information.

We continue to use a digitized platform enabling internal global collaboration for ESG reporting. This simplifies reporting processes, delivers increased security and accessibility, enhances our governance and certification documentation and helps to ensure consist and accurate information across our ESG reporting suite.

These investments, paired with our continued dedication to sound data governance, support our drive for continual improvement and readiness for the future of ESG reporting. PepsiCo has dedicated resources in place to assess and prepare for the evolving field of ESG regulatory reporting, considering new standards released in Europe and multiple other national and local jurisdictions. In light of these developments, we are taking a fresh look at our resources, data systems and information governance to ensure our data capabilities support our readiness for compliance with regulations and alignment with stakeholder expectations.

What's next?

Each year, our Global Sustainability Office works with relevant executives and content specialists to review our data gathering processes and procedures and associated controls, and we expect to make incremental improvements and adjustments as necessary in response to factors like new systems and technologies. 

We are currently in the process of developing and implementing an advanced Integrated Governance Framework (IGF) that will function as a unified and consistent source for ESG information and communications. The IGF will outline the procedures for data capture, transformation into ESG metrics, and compliance with the evolving regulatory landscape. Additionally, we continue to build capability and expand the implementation of technology solutions to increase confidence in data across our value chain. This includes extending new tracking tools and methodologies to priority areas previously not measured. We believe this ongoing work is critical to maintaining the relevancy and reliability of our reporting processes.

We will continue to monitor the rapidly-evolving regulatory environment and remain dedicated to delivering transparent and stakeholder-centric reporting as we work towards achieving our pep+ ambitions.