European business leaders have delivered a voluntary environmental code of conduct for the retail sector designed to commit the industry to a set of principles and measures aimed at reducing their environmental footprint.
The Retail Environmental Sustainability Code was presented to EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik at an event to mark the first anniversary of the Retail Forum. The Forum was set up last year by the European Commission and the European retail sector as part of their drive to promote more environmentally sustainable consumption patterns.
Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik said: "This marks an important milestone for the Retail Forum and is good news for consumers. It addresses the main areas of environmental concern, such as sourcing, waste management, resource efficiency and communication to customers.
“By signing up to this code of conduct retailers are showing that they care about the impacts their businesses have on the environment and are taking action to reduce them."
Sir Terry Leahy, Chief Executive of Tesco PLC and President of the European Retail Round Table said: “In the year since the launch of the Retail Forum, we are pleased with the significant progress we have made: the huge numbers of changes that are being made in stores, in our distribution systems, with our suppliers, with NGO partners and of course customers.
“Today, we are taking a next step with the launch of the Code. We know we have more to do and I am confident that the implementation of this Code will help us to do so. This is a great example of the creation of a mass movement in green consumption working in practice."
Dr. Rainhardt von Leoprechting, Vice-President and Head of Corporate Relations of Metro Group and EuroCommerce President said: “The retail sector is not only a huge player in the European economy, generating 13% of GDP, it is also the link between industry and millions of consumers. In this pivotal role we can work with all actors along the supply chain to develop new sustainable solutions. Together we can lead Europe towards a better, greener future.”
European retailers are in a key position to promote more sustainable consumption through their own actions, their partnerships with suppliers, and their daily contact with European consumers.
Recognition of the influential role they play led to the setting-up of the Retail Forum, an initiative under the EU's action plan on sustainable consumption and production and sustainable industrial policy. Forum member companies include many multinational retailers who have committed to reducing their environmental footprint through a series of company-specific actions.
The Retail Forum has now gone one step further on the path to sustainability by presenting a voluntary European code of conduct for retailers. The Retail Environmental Sustainability Code focuses on the sustainable sourcing of specific products such as timber or fish, increased resource efficiency in stores, optimisation of transport and distribution, better waste management practices and improved communication to consumers. Signatories agree to report on their progress, for instance through their annual corporate sustainability report.
At the launch presentation, Sir Leahy told delegates: “The first area of new work under the forum’s climate change agenda is to agree common measures and practices so that we can share data with confidence, pursue shared priorities that will make our businesses more sustainable, and allow us to communicate with customers about green products. The second area of new work is an agreement jointly to tackle some specific hot spots in the supply chain.
“On the first area – common measures and practices – we can draw on the work we’ve already done on packaging, which shows what the Forum can achieve. We want to agree a common language when talking about sustainability in our products.
“If consumers are to trust phrases like “carbon neutral” or “sustainably sourced”, one supplier’s definition cannot be different from another’s – otherwise these phrases will quickly become devalued. So we are looking to create a dictionary of terms that everyone can use and abide by.
“But we also want to go much further than this and develop a common global system for measuring the greenhouse gases in the lifecycles of the products and services we sell. This work could be extended over time to cover other sustainability challenges, but should begin with greenhouse gases.
“It is for individual businesses to decide whether and how data should be communicated to consumers. But a single approach to measuring and sharing data will enable businesses more easily, more simply and more cheaply to assess the carbon impact of their products, to locate the hotspots, and to take the necessary steps to reduce them.
“The prize in time could be a single open-source repository for this data, shared across our industry. This single, consistent and shared approach should enable our businesses to collaborate more powerfully and make stronger, more rapid and more decisive progress on sustainability.”
More than 20 major retailers and retail associations have already signed up to the code of conduct, a measure supported by the Council of the European Union in its December 2008 conclusions.
The Retail Forum was launched in 2009 with the aim of generating a better understanding of the practical measures needed to promote sustainable consumption in the retail sector.
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