Products for a fairer world
Discover how we’re helping Fairtrade farmers to build lower carbon futures.
Our Climate Plan
It cannot be overstated: climate change is real and life-threatening. The science is clear and indisputable. Climate is already affecting the foods we all rely on and the people who produce them. In successive years our members have voted for us to formally recognise the climate emergency then accelerate our response. This plan sets out how we intend to do so.
2022 update on Science Based Targets
Our current near-term targets to 2025 have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). We are now resetting our climate targets across all scopes, in the near and long-term to ensure that they are in line with keeping global temperature rise to no more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures. Co-op are expecting these updated targets to be released and validated by the SBTi in 2023.
Co-op Group commits to no deforestation across its primary deforestation-linked commodities, with a target date of no later than December 31, 2025.
Our Climate Plan
To ensure we remain at the forefront of driving forward our ambitions, it is vital we continually review our Climate Plan. We have achieved our Scope 1 and 2 carbon reduction targets several years early and have made positive progress on our Scope 3 targets. We are in the process of setting new SBTi-approved targets, remaining aligned to a 1.5⁰c pathway. We must reduce carbon emissions at a faster rate and we must work hard to prioritise people and planet in the process. That’s why we’ve continued to listen to the science and learn from our progress to date in order to prioritise action where we can make the most impact.
In November 2022, as a signatory of WWF’s Retailer’s Commitment for Nature, we signed up to their Climate Action plan – to set supply chain science-based targets, support suppliers to decarbonise and deliver a retail action plan for a 50% reduction in carbon. Collaboration with other retailers and our supply base is crucial to unlocking our climate action ambition, and this commitment will play a vital role in accelerating our pathway to Net Zero.
People remain at the heart of our Climate Plan, and we continue to campaign for climate justice. We recently shared our water security report, with a continued focus on supporting producers in low-income countries adapt to climate change and transition to low-carbon production.
For more information, please download the full plan.
Climate justice for people and planet
We campaign for climate justice to advocate for our global communities on the front line of the climate crisis. To find out more, please read our Climate Justice for People and Planet report below.
Partnership with RSPB
We all have an essential part to play in tackling the climate crisis. That's why we're committed to taking climate action and restoring nature to create a fairer planet for future generations.
As part of a 3-year partnership, Co-op and RSPB will be working together to support the ongoing restoration and long-term management of degraded peatlands in the UK. Peatlands are the earth’s greatest carbon store and are vital in providing habitats for nature and reducing flood risk. However, almost 80% of UK peatlands are degraded, causing them to emit their stored carbon back into the atmosphere. Co-op’s initial investment of £1 million in 2023, funded through sales of compostable carrier bags*, will help avoid the emission of the equivalent of 40,000 tonnes of CO2 across two sites. Further sites are to follow at RSPB reserves in Scotland. To learn more, click here.
*The Governments introduced a levy on every sale of carrier bags in England, Scotland and Wales to help reduce the impact of single-use carrier bags. Co-op donates the profits from the sale of our compostable bags to good causes across the UK including Local Community Fund which helps improve communities across the UK.
Co-operating on climate
Providing clean power
Learn how we’re encouraging businesses to use sustainable energy.
