Leading British supermarket chain Tesco and the second largest discount store retailer in the US, Target Corporation, have followed Walmart in collecting data from suppliers, seeking ways to cut carbon emissions throughout the supply chain.
Tesco and Target have engaged in a programme to reduce emissions, fight deforestation and promote the importance of water by signing up the supply chain programme by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
The research from CDP showed that the average emissions in the supply chain among all sectors are about four times higher than that from a firm’s direct emission. The numbers soar up to seven times for retailers and other customer-facing organisations.
Jennifer Silberman, VP, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Target, said she wishes the promises from Tesco, Target and CVS Health will work towards a change among the retail industry. “The future of Target rely on how it manages the usage of the resources which are currently available, so we are constantly working to find more environmentally friendly ways to bring guests the products they want,” Silberman added.
CDP has been helping multinational companies for over a decade by providing sustainability data from their suppliers. Reportedly, more than 100 global companies having combined expenditure of over US $ 3 trillion have asked for the sustainability data from 11,500 plus suppliers through CDP’s programme.
Notably, Tesco has promised to reduce their absolute carbon emissions from its operations by 35 per cent by 2020 and 60 per cent by 2025, whereas the American clothing and homeware retailer Target has pledged to use 100 per cent renewable electricity in its functioning. Further, the retailer has set an objective to install 500 solar panels fitted buildings by the next couple of years, out of which 350 have been installed so far.
Furthermore, Tesco is trying to achieve complete removal of carbon emission in its business by the year 2050.
