M&S targets net zero supply chain and products by 2040 in revamped Plan A strategy
The retailer has updated its sustainability strategy with a focus on working with suppliers and customers to drive down climate impact
Marks and Spencer (M&S) has set its sights on achieving net zero emissions across its entire supply chain and products by 2040, as the retailer today announced an overhaul of its Plan A sustainability programme.
An updated net zero roadmap has been published by the firm in line with limiting average temperature rise to 1.5C, alongside details of plans to work with customers and suppliers towards deliver its climate goals goals.
It means the supermarket’s influential Plan A sustainability programme, which was first launched in 2007, has now been updated to include the strengthened Scope 3 net zero goal for its supply chain, alongside an interim goal to reduce its carbon footprint by a third by 2025, from a 2017 baseline.
Steve Rowe, CEO of M&S, said he had already taken steps to encourage its suppliers and staff to get behind the new sustainability strategy, sending letters to supplier bases as well as hosting a business-wide event.
“We launched Plan A 14 years ago because we knew then there was no Plan B for our planet,” said Rowe. “We now face a climate emergency, and in resetting Plan A with a singular focus we can drive the delivery of net zero across our entire end-to-end supply chain. This won’t be easy. We need to transform how we make, move and sell our products to customers and fundamentally change the future shape of our business.”
The company’s supply chain accounts for 97 per cent of its Scope 3 emissions. In order to get to net zero, M&S said it aimed to work with suppliers to eradicate deforestation from its palm oil and soy sourcing, source more sustainable fibres for its clothing, and boost low carbon farming methods by 2025.
In addition, the firm said it planned to invest in new data technology to track and monitor its Scope 3 emissions, and that it would seek to ensure its Plan A programme is central to all of its future investment decisions.
M&S also today relaunched its Look Behind the Label campaign, which allows customer to read the stories behind five every day products via a new online hub, as part of a broader set of initiatives to work with customers and colleagues to advance its decarbonisation plan. Other initiatives include, offering incentives for shoppers to donate preloved clothes, training its colleagues in carbon literacy, and partnering with not-for-profit Reboot the Future to create resources for customers to facilitate discussion around living lower carbon lives, which are now available on the site, according to the firm.
Rowe said transforming the business for a net zero future was “not a far-away promise”. “We must act now to rapidly cut our footprint,” he said. “To deliver this, we need our colleagues to better understand the carbon impact of our products and processes, we need to back our suppliers to innovate and adapt to the changing environment and we must work together to help customers enjoy lower carbon lives.”
