Spring Forward: BIER’s Collective Progress on Climate, Water, and Circularity

As spring awakens across the Northern Hemisphere and the season turns toward growth, so too does BIER’s momentum as a coalition. BIER members began 2025 with a renewed commitment to agility, collaboration, and measurable progress across its five core pillars: water, climate, reporting, circularity, and nature/biodiversity. From leadership transitions to groundbreaking innovation, this quarter marks a powerful beginning and a strategic alignment with BIER’s long-term vision.

The following highlights showcase the work and impact of BIER members during the first quarter of 2025.

Leadership in Action: BIER’s Chair and Co-Chair for 2025

Strategic leadership remains central to BIER’s ability to navigate complexity and accelerate progress. In 2025, that leadership is embodied by two individuals deeply committed to collaboration and impact.

Meet Nicolas Clerget, 2025 BIER Chair
As the global sustainability landscape becomes more complex, strong and pragmatic leadership is critical. Nicolas Clerget of The HEINEKEN Company brings strategic clarity and deep climate expertise to his role as 2025 BIER Chair, reinforcing our mission to drive collective impact across the beverage industry.

“BIER brings together the beverage industry’s collective expertise to create shared value. That spirit is rare and incredibly powerful.” – Nicolas Clerget

Meet David Grant, 2025 BIER Co-Chair
David Grant of PepsiCo joins as Co-Chair, bringing a systems-based perspective to sustainability. His leadership ensures that BIER remains agile and responsive as members tackle interconnected challenges in water, climate, and biodiversity.

“Sustainability is not linear—it’s interconnected. That integrated perspective will help us prioritize effectively while staying adaptable.” – David Grant

GHG Emissions Sector Guidance: Version 4.3

As part of its commitment to driving standardized, science-aligned climate action, BIER released Version 4.3 of the Beverage Industry Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Sector Guidance—a crucial resource for beverage companies seeking to improve their emissions accounting and disclosure practices.

This latest update reflects BIER’s role in aligning the industry with evolving global standards while ensuring practical applicability across value chains. Version 4.3 introduces several key refinements, including:

• Enhanced guidance for Scope 3.15 (Investments), clarifying when and how to account for equity and debt holdings
• Updated methodology for renewable electricity accounting in accordance with GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance
• Improved clarity on emission factors, data quality scoring, and aggregation practices
• Expanded references to align with SBTi, ISSB, CSRD, and other emerging regulatory and voluntary frameworks

Version 4.3 builds on the globally recognized foundation established in earlier versions and supports consistent, transparent reporting that drives progress toward net-zero commitments and science-based targets.

BIER’s Cool Challenge 2025

Building on the momentum of the GHG Emissions Sector Guidance: Version 4.3, BIER continues to spotlight practical pathways to decarbonization across the value chain. One such opportunity lies in an often-overlooked emissions source: refrigeration.

Revolutionizing commercial refrigeration for chilled beverages—this was the mission with the 2025 Cool Challenge, and the results spoke volumes. The competition highlighted innovation in energy efficiency, circularity, and sustainable design, underscoring the crucial role of refrigeration manufacturers and component suppliers in climate-smart transformation.

Congratulations to the 2025 Cool Challenge Winners:

• Overall Best Solution: Imbera – Delivering a next-gen, holistic approach to sustainable refrigeration
• Circularity: Metalfrio Solutions & LEAF Polyol – Advancing smart, circular cooling solutions
• Business Model Innovation: CoolR Group – Rethinking how sustainability scales
• Incremental Energy Efficiency: Huayi Compressor Co., Ltd – Elevating compressor performance

This wasn’t just a competition; it was a call to action. From legislative alignment to total cost of ownership insights, the Cool Challenge sparked real momentum that will ripple across the industry for years to come.

Regulatory Roundup: Tracking Global Shifts in Sustainability Reporting

BIER’s Regulatory Roundup is a member-only forum providing quarterly updates on emerging ESG reporting regulations through a dedicated newsletter and virtual sessions. These updates spotlight key changes to existing and upcoming regulations, best practices, and opportunities for member input.

In BIER’s latest session, members explored the EU’s Omnibus package, updates to CSRD, CSDDD, and the EU Taxonomy, alongside global alignment efforts under ISSB/IFRS. As jurisdictions move from voluntary to mandatory frameworks, BIER members continue to collaborate on how best to adapt internal systems, prioritize data strategies, and manage resources efficiently. These exchanges are a hallmark of the BIER experience—shared intelligence for complex times.

Ad Hoc Sessions

BIER’s Ad Hoc Sessions provide a flexible, discussion-driven platform designed to address urgent or emerging issues relevant to the beverage industry. These member-only virtual gatherings enable BIER members to exchange ideas and collaboratively solve problems in response to new developments and industry challenges. By focusing on timely topics, these sessions support rapid knowledge sharing and actionable strategies to sustain BIER’s leadership in environmental stewardship.

In February, BIER convened members from seven global beverage companies for an Ad Hoc Session focused on Climate Transition Plans, exploring the role not just for compliance, but for competitive advantage.

Key takeaways included:

• Using the UK’s TPTF framework as a guide
• Balancing ambition with action and accountability
• Integrating new standards from CSRD, IFRS, and TCFD
• Addressing roadblocks such as risk ownership and fragmented data systems

The conversation reinforced that climate transition planning is no longer optional—it’s a strategic imperative.

In April, BIER members gathered to address the sweeping changes under the new EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)—a legislative shift redefining how packaging is designed, labeled, reused, and regulated.

Key insights included:

• Uniform application across EU member states, with phase targets to 2040
• Recyclability standards to be introduced by 2028
• Mandatory reuse and deposit return systems, particularly for beverages
• Harmonized labeling to reduce greenwashing risk and streamline compliance
• The urgent need for supplier engagement and robust internal data systems

BIER’s role in facilitating peer insight and readiness in this evolving landscape remains a cornerstone of its impact.

Looking Ahead: What Spring Growth Means for BIER

From energizing leadership to boundary-pushing innovation and complex regulatory shifts, BIER’s first quarter of 2025 reflects a coalition in action. The BIER Spring Member Meeting, taking place from May 20 to 22, 2025, in Seville, Spain, and graciously hosted by BIER member Heineken, continues to build on this strong foundation, propelling the coalition forward with accelerated momentum well into the second quarter of 2025.

This in-person gathering will bring together sustainability leaders from across the global beverage industry to explore a range of technical topics, including:

• Integrating the Nature Agenda
• Measuring the Co-Benefits of Water Replenishment
• Review of the Net Zero Standard 2.0
• Net Zero Targets
• Thermal Energy Solutions
• Geopolitical Forces on Sustainability

As BIER members convene in Seville, the emphasis remains on collaborative problem-solving and technical excellence, hallmarks of BIER’s approach. BIER values its membership base, which reflects the diversity and expertise of the global beverage industry, drawing insights from companies across the entire value chain. From brewers and distillers to non-alcoholic beverage producers, BIER members bring deep knowledge and unwavering commitment to solving the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. As such, when we work together, we go further. These cross-sector partnerships not only advance technical progress but also raise stakeholder awareness, build trust with consumers, and promote sustainable solutions that benefit both the industry and the environment.

As the rest of 2025 unfolds, the energy from the previous quarters sets the tone: one of momentum, innovation, and purposeful collaboration. We look forward to what’s next—and to continuing this shared journey toward a more sustainable beverage sector.