Morrisons has brought forward its commitment to be net zero carbon emissions from its own operations by 2035, five years earlier than initially pledged and 15 years ahead of the UK government target.
Morrisons is also committing to reducing its wider emissions across its own brand supply chain – by 30% by 2030 – and is already working with suppliers to support them in this.
The supermaket is ahead of forecast in reducing its operational carbon emissions. A 33% cut in carbon emissions was promised by 2025, and the current reduction has already reached 32%.
Future carbon reductions will be achieved by:
- being directly supplied by ‘net zero’ carbon British farms;
- reducing energy and using renewable energy;
- using low carbon vehicles and offering EV charging;
- reducing food waste and food miles and ensuring zero deforestation in its supply chains.
As part of its carbon reduction plan Morrisons will become the first supermarket to own and operate its own solar ‘farm’ across sites and stores. The ‘farm’ will become the latest addition to Morrisons sites and infrastructure giving increased control over its operations and costs. Morrisons currently owns 18 food-making facilities across the country.
Almost all of the power generated from the solar panels will be channelled straight into Morrisons stores and sites, rather than going into the national grid. The green energy will supply Morrisons store appliances that require the most energy, like fridges and freezers.
David Potts, CEO at Morrisons, said: “The climate crisis is the greatest challenge of our generation – and the time is now. As a supermarket we depend on a healthy planet to produce the goods we sell to customers.
“We’ve committed to removing carbon emissions, rather than setting a carbon neutral target that would depend heavily on offsetting. We’re also investing resources to bring forward our net zero commitment by five years which is very ambitious but very necessary. Our new solar farm and net zero carbon agriculture programme are just two ways we’ll achieve our commitment.”
