1.1
About the Climate Action Roadmap
As the UK’s largest private sector employer, with a customer base of 67 million people, the retail industry has an important role to play to rapidly decarbonise the global economy. As well as providing goods and services for UK customers and supporting livelihoods for millions around the world – for many of whom the impact of weather extremes is already tangible - the industry also contributes significantly to the underlying drivers of climate change, with value chain emissions of approximately 215 MtCO2e (million tonnes CO2-equivalent) per year.
The retail industry recognises it has a key part to play in tackling climate change. This is why retailers have come together through the BRC to develop a decarbonisation plan. The Climate Action Roadmap, developed in partnership with twenty leading retailers, is designed to guide British retail along the steps necessary to achieve a Net Zero UK, ahead of the Government’s 2050 target.
The Roadmap describes how the retail industry can decarbonise, while continuing to deliver an outstanding retail experience, through action in five areas:
- Putting greenhouse gas data at the core of business decision making;
- Operating efficient sites powered by renewable energy;
- Moving to low carbon logistics;
- Sourcing sustainably; and
- Helping our employees and customers to live low carbon lifestyles.
Alongside action from individual retailers, the scale of the decarbonisation challenge requires concerted pre-competitive action from retailers working together with their suppliers and other stakeholders, alongside government action to enable the necessary technological, behavioural and market transformations.
The retail industry Climate Action Roadmap is designed to enable all stakeholders involved in this journey to act. It identifies stretching objectives for decarbonisation and key milestones in the decarbonisation journey. It is designed to help retailers, of all sizes and in all sectors, and their partners across the retail value chain, to identify where and how to take action for the greatest impact.
Climate science, technologies, products and services, and behaviours are all evolving quickly. To keep pace with the decarbonisation challenge, and to ensure the Roadmap continues to reflect best practice, it will be updated regularly.