To date, Diageo’s sustainability and responsibility achievements in Northern Ireland include being one of the first companies to offer 26 weeks of fully paid parental leave to all employees; spearheading Guinness’s plastic packaging initiative to remove plastic ring carriers and shrink wrap from multipacks of Diageo’s beer products; and achieving zero waste to landfill at both production facilities in Northern Ireland.

Society 2030: Spirit of Progress builds on the initiatives over the last decade, through a new, ambitious action plan aimed at delivering more for communities and the planet over the next decade.

Action is focused in three core areas, carefully selected to align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): promoting positive drinking; championing inclusion and diversity; and pioneering grain-to-glass sustainability.

• Diageo will promote positive drinking by changing the way the world drinks for the better by celebrating moderation and continuing to address alcohol-related harm, expanding programmes that tackle underage drinking, drink-driving and binge drinking.
• Diageo believes the most inclusive and diverse culture makes for a better business and a better world; and will champion inclusion & diversity across the business, with its business partners and communities, to celebrate diversity and help shape a tolerant society.
• Diageo will pioneer grain to glass sustainability by preserving and replenishing water where it operates; supporting smallholder farmers, reducing waste, and improving the sustainability of its packaging.

By 2030, the ‘Society 2030: Spirit of progress’ plan will enable Diageo to:

• Reach 1 billion people with messages of moderation through its brands
• Achieve Net Zero carbon emissions across its direct operations
• Increase representation of leaders from ethnically diverse backgrounds to 45%
• Use 30% less water in every drink Diageo makes

Download a short overview with more details of the action plan and 2030 targets here, or find out more via and on the Diageo website here.