LIDL JOINS THE FIGHT
Lidl GB has announced its plans to become a carbon neutral business by 2022 this was announced alongside Lidl’s parent organisation the Schwarz Group’s wider commitment to reduce operational emissions across the chain as a whole. Lidl has even encouraged its key suppliers to set their own carbon neutral goals.
Lidl pledges to reduce its operational emissions by a monumental 80% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels across all countries that it operates in. The retailer will start by cutting carbon emissions from stores and distribution centres. This means focusing on on-site solar installations at new stores and investing in low-carbon refrigeration and lighting technologies across all current stores.
Additionally, Lidl will continue to build towards its commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by installing 250 electric vehicle charging points to existing stores by 2022. The company introduced its 100th charging point at its stores earlier this year.
Inline with recent government changes Lidl aims to tackle its Scope 3 emissions, which represent more than 98% of the company’s overall emissions. The retailer will compel suppliers, that make up 75% of product-related scope 3 emissions, to set their own climate targets in line with the new government legislation. Suppliers have until 2026 to introduce these targets.
Lidl GB’s chief executive Christian Härtnagel said: “With the UK hosting COP26 in November, this is a crucial year in the fight against climate change and we recognise our responsibility to reduce our emissions to help tackle this important issue. As part of the Schwarz Group, Lidl has a presence in 32 countries around the world and more than 310,000 employees globally. We are therefore one of Europe’s largest retail businesses and through these ambitious targets we hope to make a significant contribution by not only rapidly decarbonising our own operations but also supporting our suppliers to do the same. As a discounter, it is ingrained in us to be constantly looking to maximise efficiency and reduce waste. Whether it is how we heat and light our stores, or how we transport food from our suppliers to our warehouses, we are continuing to find ways to cut emissions across our business.”
This is a huge step forward for the retail sector and gives us hope that many more companies will follow suit and implement greener strategies sooner then the government target date and in doing so will help drive home the zero emissions target across the whole of the UK.
