Summary Report: CEO Exchange Forum 'Future-Fit Net Zero Retailer'
In October last year, as part of Climate Action Week 2024, we held our first Sustainability-themed CEO Exchange Forum, facilitated by Forum For The Future.
The goal of this Forum was to provide thought-provoking insight on being a ‘Future-Fit, Net Zero Retailer’, with valuable and actionable takeaways for every BRC member, no matter where you are on your net zero or wider sustainability journey.
Today we are sharing the documented output of this 3-hour workshop, produced with the support of Carbon Trust.
There were 5 key messages that dominated throughout the workshop:
- Desire for industry collaboration on net zero
- Proactive government involvement
- Prioritisation and immediate action by retailers
- Embedding sustainability into decision-making
- Taking responsibility and action on consumer choices
For our part, we have already stepped-up focus on the first three: through our new sector groups and more widely through the roadmap programme. We are working more closely with member colleagues on collaboration both across retail and with other parts of the supply chain, prioritising where the BRC can best support action for most impact and member value; and doubling down on policy advocacy plan for increased Government support on industry decarbonisation.
We would like CEOs to focus on the last three by:
- adopting agile approaches for your carbon ‘hotspots’ to deliver impact early
- shaping every employee job as a sustainability role
- positively influencing consumer low-carbon choices.
You’ll find a full summary of the actions from the workshop, for both members and the BRC, on pages 13/14 of the report.
As next steps, and to continue the CEO Community conversation on sustainability, we would like to facilitate in helping identify :
- what has proved successful in engaging Boards and colleagues to embed sustainability
- what could work with consumers based on your read of the market (which could be a need for pre-competitive collaboration as much as innovation and marketing)
We plan to follow-up on these actions and topics this year with a practical session as well as an interim CEO call to update you more generally on the Roadmap with detail on how we will deliver support on prioritisation, government lobbying and collaboration.
