Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

Sainsbury's targets 2040 for net zero emissions, decade ahead of UK goal

Sainsbury's committed itself on Tuesday to have net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, a decade ahead of the British government's own target which it said "isn't soon enough".

Britons have become increasingly aware of the urgency of addressing climate change, spurred on by climate campaigners including veteran naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough and Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg.


Sainsbury's, Britain's second-biggest supermarket group which trades from some 2,300 locations, employs 185,000 people across Britain and Ireland and has over 27 million customers each week, said it would spend £1 billion to hit the target.

With consumers demanding less waste and action on the environment, retailers are responding and Sainsbury's said its focus would be on reducing carbon emissions by increasing its use of renewable energy, lowering water consumption, cutting the use of plastic, increasing recycling and tackling food waste.

"We have a duty to the communities we serve to continue to reduce the impact our business has on the environment and we are committing to reduce our own carbon emissions and become net zero by 2040 ... because 2050 isn't soon enough," Sainsbury's Chief Executive Mike Coupe said in a statement.

"Over the next 20 years we will...transform the way we do business and put environmental impact at the forefront of every decision we make," he said.

Coupe steps down in May after six years as CEO and will be succeeded by retail and operations director Simon Roberts.

Sainsbury's said its current carbon footprint is one million tonnes - a 35% absolute reduction in the last 15 years despite its space increasing by 46% over the same period. It said it has invested 260 million pounds in more than 3,000 initiatives over the last decade.

The group will work with the Carbon Trust to assess emissions and set science-based targets for reduction, publicly reporting on progress every six months.

It plans to work collaboratively with suppliers and will ask them for their own carbon reduction commitments.

Sainsbury's latest move builds on a pledge, made in September, to halve plastic packaging by 2025 - the first UK supermarket to make a commitment of this scale.

Having reduced plastic packaging by just 1% in 2018, Sainsbury's said a "transformational leap in thinking" was required to tackle the almost 120,000 tonnes it uses a year.

Last week Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, said it would remove plastic wrapping from its multipack tins.

The move is part of its pledge to remove one billion pieces of plastic packaging from products in its UK stores by the end of 2020.

More for you

sottish retail-wholesale

Scottish retail-wholesale figure celebrated at University of Stirling graduation

Entrepreneur and businessperson Stanley Morrice, an influential figure in the retail and wholesale sectors, received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Stirling at Stirling’s winter graduation held today (22).

Stanley, from Fraserburgh, is being recognised for his services to Scottish food, drink and agriculture. He entered the sector as a school leaver. In 1993, he joined Aberdeen-based convenience stores Aberness Foods, which traded as Mace. He rose to become Sales Director, boosting income by 50 per cent and tripling profits, and went on to be Managing Director, successfully leading the business through a strategic sale to supermarket group Somerfield.

Keep ReadingShow less
consumer cheer
iStock image
iStock image

Consumers cheer up as Budget nerves lift: GfK

British consumers have turned less pessimistic following the government's first budget and the US presidential election and they are showing more appetite for spending in the run-up to Christmas, according to a new survey.

The GfK Consumer Confidence Index, the longest-running measure of British consumer sentiment, rose to -18 in November, its highest since August and up from -21 in October which was its lowest since March.

Keep ReadingShow less
Retail Sales
Photo: iStock

Retail sales take bigger-than-expected hit in October

British retail sales fell by much more than expected in October, according to official data that added to other signs of a loss of momentum in the economy in the run-up to the first budget of prime minister Keir Starmer's new government.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said sales volumes have fallen by 0.7 per cent in October. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a monthly fall of 0.3 per cent in sales volumes from September.

Keep ReadingShow less
Freight crime cost over £680 million

iStock image

Freight crime cost over £680 million

Freight-related crime cost the UK economy an estimated £680-700 million in 2023, when accounting for lost revenues, VAT, and insurance costs, revealed a recent report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Freight and Logistics.

The study, funded by the Road Haulage Association (RHA), documented 5,370 reported incidents of HGV and cargo crime across the UK last year, a 5 per cent increase on the previous year. Experts suggest that the actual figures could be significantly higher due to under-reporting. The direct value of stolen goods reached £68.3 million.

Keep ReadingShow less