Carbon offsetting
Sustainability
Carbon footprint
Starbucks is a major, global chain of coffeehouses. The company announced bold aims in 2020 to significantly reduce its environmental footprint over the following decade, taking a multi-pronged approach to reduce its environmental impact and create positive environmental change.
This article was updated in 2026.
Starbucks’ current initiatives
Through its Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices program, Starbucks now sources 99.15% of its coffee from ethically verified sources. Farmers use methods that conserve energy and water and keep soil healthy, grow shade trees that promote biodiversity and protect wildlife habitats, and implement proper waste treatment alongside a reduction in the use of agrochemicals.
Starbucks also engages in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) programme, aiming to build more environmentally conscious retail cafes. The programme emphasises energy efficiency, water stewardship, the use of renewable energy, and the use of responsible materials.Company-operated coffeehouses worldwide (excluding China) now run on 100% renewable electricity, supported by deals such as a 233 GWh-a-year solar power purchase agreement.
Future environmental initiatives
The company aims to be more resource-positive, with a focus on storing more carbon, reducing carbon emissions, eliminating waste, and providing more clean freshwater. To guide this work, Starbucks partnered with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Quantis to quantify the carbon, waste, and water footprint of both its supply chain and operations, built around five strategies:
- Creating a more environmentally friendly menu with more plant-based options
- Shifting from single-use to reusable packaging
- Modifying its supply chain to include innovative and regenerative agricultural practices, reforestation, forest conservation, and water replenishment
- More efficient waste management
- Enacting more eco-friendly stores, operations, manufacturing, and delivery
Read more: Carbon footprint offsetting strategies: How leading companies neutralise their emissions
By 2030, Starbucks set out to:
- Achieve a 50% reduction in carbon emissions across its direct operations and supply chain
- Conserve and replenish 50% of its water withdrawal for direct operations and coffee production
- Reduce its waste sent to landfills from stores and manufacturing by 50%
The company also joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Global Commitment on plastics, and has since committed to reducing virgin plastics in its packaging by 5% by 2030.
Progress against these goals is mixed. On waste, Starbucks as verified more than 13,000 coffeehouses worldwide for energy, water, and waste reduction practices, comfortably surpassing its original goal of 10,000 while reusable cup use among in-café customers has grown 77% and its polypropylene cold cups have earned a recyclability designation that expands curbside recycling access. On water, the company helped more than 700,000 people coffee-growing communities gain improved access to water and sanitation in the past year alone.
Carbon remains the harder challenge. Starbucks has cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions from its direct operations by 17% against its FY19 baseline, but Scope 3 emissions across its much larger value chain, which make up roughly 96% of its total footprint, have risen 8% over the same period, leaving total emissions around 7% higher than in FY19. Citing regulatory shifts and evolving standards, Starbucks confirmed in its FY25 Impact Report that it is actively reassessing its flagship 50% emissions reduction target, with an update expected in due course.
Read more: Why scope 3 emissions are your biggest blind spot—and what to do about it
Major corporations going green
Large corporations have long been criticised for their waste and large carbon footprints, and Starbucks' own numbers show just how hard that legacy is to unwind: Even a company with genuine, well-funded sustainability programmes can see its emissions move in the wrong direction while its supply chain catches up with its ambitions. That's not a reason to give up on ambitious targets, but it is a reminder that honest measurement matters just as much as the target itself.
At Green Earth, we see this pattern often: Businesses that are serious about sustainability but whose Scope 3 emissions won't shrink as fast as their goals demand. This is exactly where high-quality carbon credits earn their place, not as a substitute for reducing emissions at the source, but as a way to take verified, immediate responsibility for the footprint that remains while that harder work continues.
Whether you're an SME just starting to measure your impact or a large corporate rethinking a target the way Starbucks is, taking responsibility for your carbon footprint today builds trust with customers, investors, and regulators, and keeps your business moving in the right direction even when the numbers get harder. Start making a positive impact: calculate your carbon footprint today.
