Leading retailers have been making huge progress in reducing their impact on the environment. This includes reducing absolute carbon emissions by 45%, far surpassing the 2020 target of 25%.

Three of the six targets set by the Better Retail Better World initiative a year early, with carbon emissions from stores (relative to shop floorspace) down 74% against a target of 50% and energy-related carbon emissions from store deliveries (relative to shop floorspace) also down 43%.

Almost thirty retailers signed up to the Better Retail Better World initiative, with the aim of bringing the retail industries leading businesses coming together to meet some of the biggest global challenges of the coming decades highlighted by the UN, including modern slavery and decent work, sustainable economic growth, inequalities, climate change and responsible consumption and production.

Efforts to tackle carbon reduction include the use of biofuels and renewable energy across the supply chain. This comes as over 60 leading retailers recently signed up to the British Retail Consortium’s Climate Action Roadmap which sets out to bring the retail industry to Net Zero by 2040.

While there has been great progress in some areas, such as carbon reduction, the retail industry recognises that other areas such as increase of waste sent to landfill need more work. 

Find out more about how your business can reduce waste and sign up to the BRC’s Climate Action Roadmap to get to Net Zero here.