Good for the planet, good for people and good for business: Climate action needs us all to drive meaningful change
In September, IKEA announced that they will invest an additional €600 million globally to support our plans to become a fully circular and climate positive business by 2030 | Credit: IKEA
At IKEA, we are transforming into a sustainable business, using our scale and resources to drive change and to inspire millions of customers to live a better life within the limits of our one, shared planet.
Climate change is no longer a distant threat, but a visible reality affecting the lives of millions of people around the world.
In the past year, the COVID-19 outbreak has further demonstrated how fragile the world is, reinforcing the need for collective resilience. Climate action sits at the heart of that need.
That’s why at IKEA, we are transforming into a sustainable business, using our scale and resources to drive change and to inspire millions of customers to live a better life within the limits of our one, shared planet. We’ve been working with sustainability since we started our business, 75 years ago.
For us, this isn’t just a planet, it’s a home.
We see climate action as a driver of innovation, creating sustainable growth and unlocking new jobs and skills.
In September, we announced that IKEA will invest an additional €600 million globally to support our plans to become a fully circular and climate positive business by 2030.
This increases our overall investments in sustainability to €3.8billion.
We have clear ambitions and by 2030, all IKEA products will be made from renewable, recyclable and/or recycled materials; and they will be designed to be re-used, refurbished, re-manufactured or recycled, following circular design principles.
Just this week, IKEA announced that we will remove all non-rechargeable alkaline batteries from our global home furnishing range, by October 2021, as a move to inspire our customers to adopt new behaviours and use rechargeable batteries to their full potential.
We’re looking to the Government to incentivise the UK retail industry to invest in sustainability– in a scenario where being sustainable is not at odds with being profitable.
We are also creating the infrastructure to support change, by testing circular services (take-back, spare parts, repair, refurbishment and learning labs) with our customers in many of our markets, including the UK.
Looking further ahead, we will also decarbonise our investments, stopping investments in fossil fuels, and instead investing in companies that create a more positive impact to the climate and planet.
The UK’s Presidency of COP26 needs to ignite the need for action and urgency across the world, by focusing on engaging with governments, businesses – of all sizes – and of course, working closely with people and communities.
Closer to home, we’re looking to the Government to incentivise the UK retail industry to invest in sustainability– in a scenario where being sustainable is not at odds with being profitable.
To deliver this we need detailed and ambitious plans for achieving the net zero target by 2050 and working backwards from that date.
We need clear leadership, and hope to see more action to drive energy efficiency in commercial buildings and accelerate the up-take of low-carbon heat technologies.
We’d also like to see more ambition around the adoption of electric vehicles (EV) and phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles.
Being a sustainable, purposeful and resilient business and employer is critical for our profitability, for people and the planet.
It’s what our co-workers and customers expect and, increasingly, demand. And it’s what the retail sector will work towards in the years to come.
Every one of us can make a positive difference, inspire individuals to take climate action and live sustainable and healthy lives, to become champions of change.
But we also need support from Governments and local authorities to turn this ambition into reality and build a collective movement for positive change.
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