McDonald’s reassigns its chief sustainability officer to beef strategy

This is corporate news about McDonald's, not something that touches home energy upgrades directly, but here's what happened.

McDonald's has moved its chief sustainability officer, Beth Hart, into a new role overseeing global beef sourcing and supply chain quality control. Hart had held the sustainability post for about two years. Her old job goes to Suheily Natal Davis, a McDonald's attorney who has worked on diversity and inclusion programs, with a new title covering sustainability, social impact and inclusion.

The reshuffle comes as McDonald's reviews its climate targets. The company recently said it will miss its goal of cutting supply chain and franchise emissions in half by 2030, pointing to factors it says are outside its control. It plans to spend $1 billion over the next decade on supply chain resilience, including regenerative agriculture and grazing programs meant to make beef and other farming practices less emissions-intensive. In her new role, Hart will help decide how some of that money gets spent.

Beef, along with commodities like soy, palm oil, coffee, and packaging fiber, makes up the largest share of McDonald's carbon footprint under supply-chain emissions accounting. The company says it has cut those emissions by 3 percent since 2018.

For homeowners tracking energy and climate news, this is mainly a corporate governance story about how a major food company is restructuring its sustainability leadership and adjusting its climate goals. It has no direct bearing on home energy upgrades or rebate programs.