Tesco PLC
From Lauraibm
Tesco PLC and Climate Change
There is now an overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is happening. Scientists tell us that man-made emissions of greenhouse gases are a key factor, and that urgent action by governments, businesses and individuals is needed to combat it. This means there needs to be less reliance on fossil fuel, and that we must nurture the idea of a low-carbon society.
As a result, many customers now want to play their part. However, they need to help overcome some key barriers: a sense that their individual actions won't make a difference; a lack of information about what to do and a worry that buying products that help the environment is expensive.
Tesco is working to tacke these barriers so that we can help deliver a revolution in green consumption - with the fight against climate change at the very heart of it. We also want to set an example by reducing CO2 emissions in our business throughout the world, and by sharing information with other organisations, businesses and Government to stimulate a low-carbon economy.
Our approach We recognise that we need to do more than list a series of enivironmentally-friendly actions, although those do play their part. We are changing our business model so that the reduction of our carbon footprint becomes an important business driver. We have a comprehensive plan that has three key objectives:
- Helping our customers by making green choices easier and more affordable
- Setting an example by measuring and making big cuts in Tesco's greenhouse gas emissions around the world
- Working with others to develop new low-carbon technology throughout the supply chain
Customers: Green Choices
We will make it easier for customers to make green choices by:
Improving information: Working in the widest collaboration, we have begun the search for a universally accepted and commonly understood measure of the carbon footprint of our products covering their lifecycle from manufacture through to use. This will enable us to label all ouor products so that customers can compare their carbon footprint as easily as they can currently compare prices or nutritional profiles.
We are, for example, working with the Energy Saving Trust to develop stronger energy-efficiency labelling for our electrical products, from light bulbs to televisions.
As an interim measure, we have put an aeroplane symbol on all air-freighted products because this method of transport results in far higher carbon emissions than any other. We will also restrict air freight to no more than 1% of our imports with a bias in favour of sourcing from developing countries.
Lowering costs: We will offer more energy-efficient products through our Value range to help customers on tight budgets. We have begun by halving the cost of energy-efficiency light bulbs.
Inspiring children: With DEFRA and the Royal Society of Arts, we have launched Carbon Control to help educate children about the importance of a low-carbon lifestyle. It shows children how simple everyday choices for example, sharing a car for the school run or buying seasonal fruit can make a big difference. To find out more information visit www.carboncontrol.org.uk.
Rewarding 'green' choices: We are developing our Green Clubcard scheme to promote energy-efficient and other 'green' products, such as intelligent plugs that switch off appliances when they are not being used. We also use Green Clubcard to encourage customers to reuse and recycle. Last year, we began offering Clubcard points to people for reusing carrier bags, and our customers have responded by taking over 400 million fewer free plastic bags by the end of April 2007.
Increasing the use of biofuel: We are already the UK market leader in biofuels and during 2007 we aim to double the proportion we sell. This means that customers will be able to buy a 5% bioethanol mix at over 300 petrol stations in the UK. This helps our customers reduce their emissions, as a car driven with our bioethanol mix petrol is responsible for 4.5% less CO2. We were the UK's first major retailer to incorporate biofuel into our standard petrol and diesel, with no price premium.
We also use a 50:50 biodiesel mix in our own vehicles - the highest percentage blend used by any major distribution fleet. We have a 25% stake in biofuel supplier Greenergy, which has opened the UK's largest single-line biodiesel plant, on the Humber estuary, with an annual production capacity of 100,000 tonnes. Greenergy buys rapeseed for conversion to biodiesel from around 1,500 farmers contracted through Grainfarmers, a large agricultural co-operative in the UK.
Promoting 'green' consumerism: We are setting up a Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI) to bring together experts from many different areas of environmental work: climate science, technology, economics and consumer behaviour. The SCI will help us to take forward our work on carbon footprinting and labelling, to identify particular pressure points in the supply chain, and to guide our business and our customers towards a low-carbon future. As a first step towards developing the Institute we have commissioned work from the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University.
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