Here’s What You Need to Know From Our 2020-2021 Purpose and Impact Progress Report

August 19, 2021


For more than 60 years, McDonald’s has believed in the importance of feeding, fostering and caring for the communities we serve. To capture the positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) impact we've had around the world, we’re releasing our latest Purpose and Impact Progress Reporting Suite, which provides updates on our impact and measures the progress we’ve made toward our ESG goals and commitments over the past year.   

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We are grateful to our neighborhood restaurants, suppliers, producers, and employees who help us meet our industry-leading global commitments on a local scale. Here are the four impact areas you'll learn more about in our 2020-2021 Purpose and Impact Reporting Suite: 

Jobs, Inclusion & Empowerment: We are serving up bright futures by providing opportunity for education and skills in the communities we serve through even greater focus on equity and inclusion across our business.   

Our Progress: 

  • We invited U.S.-based suppliers to McDonald’s to sign a Mutual Commitment to DEI, a pledge to take action within their own organizations to build the talent pipelines, infrastructure and culture that support increased representation and inclusion, and close equity gaps.     

  • We continue to work towards overall global gender parity in leadership positions and greater visibility of underrepresented groups in corporate staffing. Women currently make up 37.4% of McDonald’s leadership roles globally, and 29.1% of our leaders in the U.S. come from historically underrepresented groups.

Our Planet: We are working to protect our planet today and in the future by finding innovative ways to keep waste out of nature, conserve forests and ecosystems, and drive climate action. 

Our Progress: 

  • In 2020, approximately 80% of guest packaging sourced for McDonald’s restaurants came from renewable, recycled, or certified sources, and 25% of McDonald’s restaurants in our 30 largest markets offer guests the opportunity to recycle packaging waste. 

  • We have achieved an 8.5% reduction in the absolute emissions of our restaurants and offices towards our 36% reduction goal, and a 5.9% reduction in supply chain emissions intensity towards our target of a 31% reduction (from 2015 baseline).

Food Quality & Sourcing: We are sourcing delicious, quality ingredients in responsible ways, because what we serve, how our food is produced and where it comes from matters to our customers, communities and the environment. This includes supporting farming communities and the people, locally and globally, who produce and raise our food, and offering balanced, wholesome options the  entire family can enjoy.    

Our Progress: 

  • McDonald’s achieved 98% to 100% on our 2020 responsible sourcing goals focused on our priority products – beef, soy for chicken feed, coffee, palm oil, fish and fiber.  

  • In October 2020, we shared the milestone progress we’ve made toward our five Global Happy Meal Goals for 2022 across our 20 major markets.* For example, 2.5+ billion Happy Meal items sold in 2018 and 2019 in the 20 major markets contained recommended food groups (fruit, vegetable, low-fat dairy, water, lean protein, and/or whole grain). To learn more, download the Global Happy Meal Goals 2020 Interim Progress Report. Ten out of ten of our top beef sourcing countries have recognized one or more beef producers as Flagship Farmers to work with peers and share their industry-leading practices as of 2020. In total, the program has recognized 34 farmers in 17 countries across four continents.

Community Connection: We are supporting communities and fostering togetherness. It's why we donated millions of pounds of food from our supply chain and hot meals from our restaurants to communities in times of need and crisis. We're also proud to support Ronald McDonald House Charities, which helps keep millions of families together when they need it most. 

Our Progress: 

  • In early 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic affected McDonald’s operations, people, customers and communities. We took a multi-pronged approach to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 – from supporting our Owner/Operators who are small businesses facing financial pressure, to ensuring no breaks in our supply chain, and partnering with the Red Cross to donate food and masks to communities in need.   

  • McDonald’s and its suppliers in the U.S. donated over 17.4 million pounds of food from suppliers and distribution centers – worth more than $27.2 million – to support local communities. Globally, McDonald’s donated millions of dollars in food to support local communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.    

  • In 2020, we donated $20 million to Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) as part of a $100 million commitment over the next five years to support families when they need it most.    

We’re proud of all we’ve accomplished over the past year, but our work doesn’t stop when we achieve our goals. We know there are significant challenges yet to come, and we look forward to being part of the solution. Read our entire 2020-2021 Purpose and Impact Progress Reporting Suite here.

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