Next, Amazon UK, IKEA and Marks & Spencer (M&S) are among 20 major UK retailers who this week pledged to jointly develop a net-zero roadmap for the retail sector, setting a more ambitious target than the national 2050 requirement.
The coalition of retailers pledged to publish the roadmap in the run-up to COP26 in Glasgow, which has been postponed to November 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, in a declaration coordinated by the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
The group will work with each other, BRC environmental experts and third parties to define the roadmap’s time-bound measures towards complete net decarbonisation ahead of the 2050 deadline.
Three key areas, regarded as the UK retail sector’s largest sources of emissions, will be analysed. These are comprised of upstream supply chains, customers and direct operations including shops, distribution centres, warehouses, transport and logistics.
The BRC claims that there is currently no other net-zero roadmap for the UK’s retail sector that encompasses all of these emissions sources. Also signing the declaration are Aldi, the Booksellers Association, Boots, Co-op, Costa Coffee, Dixons Carphone, Greggs, Kingfisher, Lidl, Missguided, Musgrave, Ocado, TJX, WH Smith and Morrison’s. Several of these have already unveiled net-zero targets deadlined at 2050 or sooner.
