Stockholm (NordSIP) – Kesko, the Finnish retail company, has set ambitious science-based emission targets for its operations and supply chain, in part to provide investors and other stakeholders with the opportunity to gauge its ESG commitment and implementation.
Together with K-retailers, Kesko forms the K Group, the third largest retail operator in Northern Europe, with sales of over €13 billion.
Specialising in the grocery, building, technical and car trades and with 2,000 stores across Finland, Sweden, Norway, the Baltics, Russia, Belarus and Poland, Kesko acts in close cooperation with retailer entrepreneurs and other partners, where it will henceforth be able to exert influence at the level of ESG diligence and compliance. Kesko ranks as the world’s most responsible trading sector company on Corporate Knights’ Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World list.
According to a press release, Kesko is now set to step up its commitment to climate work even further by setting science-based targets with the guidance of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) to reduce emissions from facilities, transportation and the supply chain. To do so, it will increase its use of renewable energy while simultaneously improving its energy efficiency.
“Setting science-based targets supports the K Group in its commitment to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” says Matti Kalervo, Kesko Vice President for Corporate Responsibility. “In our responsibility programme, we have committed ourselves to the mitigation of climate change and the promotion of renewable energy production.”
The SBTi is a collaboration between the UN Global Compact, the World Resources Institute (WRI), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the CDP to enable companies to fulfil their commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement target of below 2 degrees Celsius. The SBTi criteria set emission targets by scope, and against which they are evaluated: Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from transportation and from a company’s heat production. Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the consumption of purchased electricity and the generation of district heat. Scope 3 emissions are other indirect emissions from the manufacture of products sold. Kesko is the first retail company in Finland whose targets have been formally approved by the SBTi.
Kesko has committed to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 18% by 2025, using a 2015 base year. It has also committed that 90% of its key suppliers will set greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets by 2025 to comply with Scope 3 emissions.
In addition, since the beginning of 2017, Kesko has purchased only renewable energy that participates in the Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO).
