‘Commitment for Nature’: WWF and top supermarkets team up in pledge to halt biodiversity loss
CEOs of leading food retailers commit to halving the impact of UK shopping baskets by 2030, in line with WWF goals
Five major supermarkets have pledged to halve the environmental impact of UK shopping baskets by 2030 and step up efforts to halt biodiversity loss after signing up to WWF’s Retailers’ Commitment for Nature.
The CEOs of Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose have today committed to take action to curb their environmental impact across seven key areas and set science-based targets in line with a 1.5C warming trajectory across all emissions scopes by the end of 2022.
Specifically, the pledge will see the firms enhance work to curb their climate impact, enhance nature conservation, embrace more sustainable agricultural production, encourage greener diets, tackle food and packaging waste, and reduce marine impacts.
“As CEOs of leading UK food retailers, we recognise that a future without nature is a future without food,” the group said in a statement. “By 2030 we collectively need to halt the loss of nature.”
The move was welcomed by Tanya Steele, WWF’s chief executive, who said: “Food production is one of the biggest threats to our planet and we will only tackle the climate and nature emergency if food retailers play their part.
“The promises these CEOs have made are game changing and we hope other food retailers will follow in their footsteps so that every shopper can be confident that the products they buy aren’t fuelling the climate crisis and pushing precious wildlife closer to the brink.”
Food production and consumption is estimated to be responsible for 60 per cent of global nature loss and contributes to a third of total greenhouse gas emissions, almost 19 times greater than the commercial airline industry.
“As a sector we need to co-operate and take bold action to tackle climate change, deforestation and the impact on natural habitats to ultimately help people shop and live greener,” Steve Murrells, CEO of Co-op Group.
Today’s commitment builds on the WWF Basket initiative, which the conservation group pioneered with Tesco and which aims to halve the environmental impact of UK supermarket shopping baskets by 2030. The initiative is backed by a WWF blueprint that outlines over 100 steps that food retailers can take to protect nature and curb emissions across their supply chains.
“It’s great to see fellow food retailers coming together and committing to building on the work Tesco and WWF initiated to halve the environmental impact of UK baskets,” said Tesco CEO Ken Murphy. “We’re calling on more food businesses to play their part and join us in transforming the food system for the good of the planet.”
In signing up to the commitment, the five supermarkets have agreed to report their progress annually to WWF as part of their annual sustainability assessments and their work to align with government ambitions to end deforestation and nature destruction in supply chains.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Simon Roberts CEO of Sainsbury’s, said: “The urgency of the climate crisis means that we now need to move faster and we can only achieve this through collaboration. We join the WWF and our fellow retailers in calling on more food businesses to step up to the plate to help us secure the planet for the generations to come.”
