Wahaca

Wahaca’s Credible Pathway to Net Zero: Building Long‑Term Climate Credibility in Hospitality

Wahaca is a UK‑based Mexican‑style restaurant group and a long‑standing leader in sustainable hospitality. The business has set a target to reach net zero emissions by 2030 while maintaining CarbonNeutral® certification each year. Since 2015, Climate Impact Partners has worked with Wahaca with high‑integrity carbon solutions, helping the business sustain carbon neutrality while progressing toward its longer‑term climate goals.

The Ambition: 

Wahaca aims to reduce its emissions and reach net zero by 2030 while maintaining CarbonNeutral® certification each year. Operating a complex, multi‑site restaurant business, Wahaca takes a structured, science‑aligned approach to managing emissions across its operations and supply chain. 

Key Climate Goals: 

• Maintain a long‑standing commitment to carbon neutrality, building on CarbonNeutral® company status first achieved in 2016, while following a clear and credible pathway toward net zero. 
• Deliver sustained, science‑aligned emissions reductions across operations and supply chains, targeting an average 4.2% reduction per year to support long‑term progress. 
• Achieve net zero by 2030, embedding climate action into Wahaca’s wider environmental and social strategy. 
• Prioritize climate action in regions that reflect Wahaca’s South American and Mexican heritage.  

The Challenge

With significant Scope 3 (value chain) emissions across food sourcing, agriculture, and supply chains, Wahaca faces the ongoing challenge of maintaining a credible and transparent view of its full carbon footprint. To sustain carbon neutrality and progress toward its net zero target, the business requires robust, auditable carbon data, trusted reporting, and a credible approach to addressing unavoidable emissions. 

The Action

Since 2015, Climate Impact Partners has worked with Wahaca, developing a deep understanding of its business and sustainability journey. 

• High‑integrity carbon portfolio aligned with Wahaca’s goals and brand: We help build a balanced carbon portfolio that supports Wahaca’s CarbonNeutral® approach by enabling the use of accredited projects to offset unavoidable emissions. Portfolio selection is guided by Wahaca’s brand inspiration, supporting cookstove and nature-based projects across South America and Mexico. 
• Carbon transparency, and audit readiness: We provide detailed project information, vintage data, and financial breakdowns to support audits and external verification requirements.  
• Guidance through evolving standards and Scope 3 expectations: We advise on CarbonNeutral® protocol changes and help Wahaca navigate the transition toward more comprehensive Scope 3 reporting, strengthening long‑term credibility as expectations and requirements evolve. 

How Wahaca Is Making The Business Case For Climate Action

The Impact

• Recognized as the UK’s most sustainable major restaurant chain: Rated number one in a Which? analysis and noted as the only chain to disclose carbon emissions at an individual meal level, reinforcing Wahaca’s leadership in transparency. 
• Maintained CarbonNeutral® certification year on year: Supporting Wahaca’s continuous carbon‑neutral status since 2015, reinforced through CarbonNeutral® menu signage and low‑carbon meal guidance for customers. 
• Delivered a high‑impact, brand‑aligned carbon portfolio: Wahaca prioritizes projects in Mexico and South America that reinforce its menu inspiration and sustainability ethos. This includes the Orinoco River Basin REDD+ project in Colombia, protecting over one million hectares of tropical forest and delivering biodiversity and community benefits aligned with all 17 UN SDGs. 
• Strengthened credibility and audit readiness: Delivered robust carbon project data to support confident reporting and successful third‑party verification. 
• Enabled a smooth transition toward enhanced Scope 3 reporting: Helping Wahaca prepare for evolving standards and requirements without disruption to its ongoing climate commitments. 

What Wahaca Says

Why This Matter

Wahaca positions itself as a hospitality sector leader taking proactive climate action in an industry shaped by complex Scope 3 emissions, from food supply chains to multi‑site operations. Its long‑term partnership with Climate Impact Partners demonstrates that carbon neutrality can be sustained and strengthened, even as standards evolve, and expectations increase. 

Through transparent reporting, flexible, high‑integrity solutions, and expert support through regulatory change, Climate Impact Partners is helping Wahaca progress confidently toward net zero. Together, the partnership shows how hospitality businesses can turn ambition into credible, lasting climate action.