Retailers Join Forces to Tackle Climate Change in the Race to Zero

Leading retailers H&M Group, Ingka Group (IKEA), Kingfisher plc and Walmart today launched a new climate change initiative – the Race to Zero Breakthroughs: Retail Campaign – in partnership with the COP26 High Level Climate Action Champions and supported by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Retailers have pledged their support to accelerate a movement in the retail industry to drive climate action and encourage other retailers to set out their plans to achieve 1.5 degree aligned carbon reduction targets.

The retail sector faces unprecedented challenges due to climate change, which have only been accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The imperative to take action to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius has never been higher. Despite bold actions from some leading retail brands, a decarbonization pathway for the sector is notably absent, with only 5% of retail businesses – by total global industry revenues – having committed to taking action to limit global warming in accordance with the Paris Agreement goals.

“I encourage the retail industry to join us and take immediate climate action to halve global emissions by 2030. Together, we can win the Race to Zero,” said Nigel Topping, a UN high-level climate champion for COP26.

Peter Bakker, president and CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the organization leading the campaign, said: “This campaign is a call to retailers everywhere to take ambitious climate action as they increasingly recognize the risks posed by climate change across their supply chains and operations. We need more retailers to join the UNFCCC’s Race to Zero and showcase leadership and commitment, like H&M Group, Ingka Group (IKEA), Kingfisher and Walmart.”

He emphasized that, “The climate emergency, together with the loss of nature and rising inequalities, are the greatest and most complex challenges of our time. Only by joining forces and collectively rethinking the industries, like retail, will it be possible to tackle them. Governments, investors and businesses are uniting to support a pathway to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C, in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement – the only viable way for people and planet.”
more at source: https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2021/07/07/retailers-join-forces-to-tackle-climate-change-in-the-race-to-zero

Related Posts

HP Planet Partners turns 25, looks better than ever

We’re celebrating one of our oldest and most important partners—Earth. Even though astronomers recently found more than 1,000 new planets, we remain committed to ours. Twenty-five years ago HP and its customers joined together in HP Planet Partners to reduce waste by recycling HP printing supplies and any brand’s hardware. Since its creation, HP Planet Partners has spread to 73 countries and territories. With the help of our customers, we’ve recovered more than 3.3 billion pounds of products and recycled more than 682 million cartridges. HP’s closed-loop recycling process diverts millions of pounds of plastic from landfills to make Original HP cartridges—satisfying customer demands and reducing environmental impact.

Hungary Launches National Public Consultation

Hungarian Forest Certification Non-profit Ltd. is pleased to announce the start of the national public consultation for the Hungarian sustainable forest management standard. Stakeholders from around the country are invited to provide their feedback on the standard by 20 August 2015. “This public consultation is an extremely important opportunity for all national stakeholders to provide their final input into our upcoming standard,” said Endre Schiberna, Head of the Standard Setting Committee.

Setting an Example While Sustaining Our Forests

Meet Erin Herrin, area harvesting manager for Georgia-Pacific’s building products operations in East Texas. In her job, Erin works with family forest landowners who sell their timber to GP, providing information on how to best manage their property, protect streams and water quality, and reforest after harvesting. As a woman in a predominantly male profession, Erin is also an example to girls who want to pursue a career in forestry. She encourages them to continuously push themselves. “Don’t let self-doubt get the better of you and look for opportunities to progress yourself in your career, even the opportunities you don’t feel like you’re capable of.”
Back To Top
×Close search
Search