The John Lewis Partnership has stepped up its commitments to the environment this week. The retailer has pledged that it will reduce its operational greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 at the latest, without purchasing offsets. This is in line with the pathway set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to limit global warming to 1.5C.
The pledge covers all John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners stores, as well as head offices, distribution centres and other sites. Moreover, the company’s entire transport fleet will be zero carbon by 2045.
The Partnership will initially focus on making significant emissions reductions over the next ten years to decarbonise its operations as much as possible as quickly as possible.
By 2028, it will remove a third of carbon from its operations through a significant investment in new refrigeration technology, biomethane-powered trucks, electric vans and renewable electricity. This is expected to result in CO2 savings equivalent to removing 16,000 petrol cars off the road every year.
The retailer has already made significant emissions reductions, and has the highest number of Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) certified buildings of any UK retailer. It has started to roll out biomethane-powered heavy trucks, which emit over 80% less CO2 than standard diesel alternatives.
Benet Northcote, partner and director of Corporate Responsibility at the John Lewis Partnership, said: “We recognise that urgent action is needed to keep global warming below 1.5C to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate breakdown, and we are responding with our most ambitious set of targets yet, aiming to decarbonise as much as we can in the next ten years and setting out a clear path to becoming a net zero operation. It’s of paramount importance to us as a co-owned business to ensure the Partnership is prepared for the future. We are now only one generation away from 2050 and we are committed to playing our part in transitioning to a zero carbon future.”
Top: John Lewis Partnership’s fleet of vehicles will be zero carbon by 2045.
