UK retailer Tesco has released what it is calling a “climate change manifesto” to tackle cutting both energy consumption and food waste while fostering healthy food habits for its customers.
The supermarket’s CEO, Ken Murphy, outlined the new strategic plan last week that will further focus on cutting emissions, transitions to electric vehicles and boosting sustainability in food production as it tries to meet its climate goals by 2035.
“In this critical decade for tackling climate change, it’s vital we challenge ourselves to be more ambitious in our aims and accelerate progress against them,” Murphy said. “At Tesco, we’re playing our part by creating a better basket for our customers and the planet. No one business can tackle these challenges alone. We must take collective action as a food industry to drive the transformational changes necessary to meet the UK’s climate commitments.”
Thanks to its efforts and a partnership with the World Wildlife Fund that started three years ago, Tesco already has reduced absolute emissions by 50% over the past five years, bettering their target by 15%.
“This new manifesto from Tesco, outlining the actions it is taking to address these systemic issues, is a positive step towards the UK’s transition to a net-zero future,” said Tanya Steele, CEO of the WWF. “Our global food and farming systems are a major cause of nature’s decline. Retailers and their supply chains have a critical role to play in tackling the climate crisis by reducing emissions and ensuring the food on our plates doesn’t drive nature loss at home and overseas. If we are to safeguard our future, we must transform the way we produce and consume food.”
Ahead of the COP26 Climate Change Summit in Glasgow, Tesco said it plans to:
- “Switch to renewable energy across all its operations by 2030. It already uses 100% renewable electricity in the UK and Europe.
- Partner with renewable energy investors to launch new renewable power generation projects and creating new offsite UK solar and wind farms.
- Launch its first fleet of 30 electric home delivery vans, switching to a fully electric delivery fleet by 2028.
- Roll out 2,400 charging points for customers across 600 stores.”
