What would you do if you had a seat at COP26?
Andrew Griffith speaks at IKEA's Parliamentary Reception (Credit: Paul Heartfield)
That was the question IKEA posed to MPs and Peers as they gathered in Parliament ahead of this month’s COP26 Summit in Glasgow.
IKEA – who are a Partner of the COP26 summit and will be furnishing parts of the Conference – has pledged to become climate positive by 2030 and set out a plan to slash carbon emissions and reduce waste.
The partnership is pivotal in IKEA’s goal to ensure everyone – businesses, governments and people everywhere – works together to assemble a better future.
This year’s United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) is pivotal in achieving this. With leaders attending from all over the world, it’s a crucial opportunity for us to limit the effects of climate change and accelerate global action.
The Government’s Net Zero Business Champion, Andrew Griffith MP, told the reception that COP26 was “the best last chance to save the planet”, and commended the furniture giant as a “business making a practical difference in tackling the climate crisis”.
Betts said IKEA’s pledge to become climate positive by 2030 was “an outstanding commitment to make”
Amongst the attendees showing their support at the event were MPs Andrew Selous, Vice-Chair of the Climate Change All-Party Parliamentary Group, and Clive Betts, Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee.
Betts said IKEA’s pledge to become climate positive by 2030 was “an outstanding commitment to make” and expressed hope that it will lead the way for other businesses, while Selous praised IKEA’s “pioneering” in-store circular hubs, which host Buy back, take back and re-sell services and promote more sustainable choices.
Peter Jelkeby, Country Retail Manager and Chief Sustainability Officer IKEA UK and Ireland said: “Our DNA has always been around sustainability: the way we design our products, the materials we use, the way we produce them and the way we transport them.” But he said the company had pledged a much a much bolder commitment on climate positivity to support future generations over the last decade, through it’s People and Planet Positive Strategy.
Jelkeby stressed the importance of collaboration between the Government, businesses and the public, a sentiment echoed by Griffith. “Keep building coalitions – because it is by acting together that we are going to make a big difference,” the Prime Minister’s PPS added.
Also in attendance were climate solutions charity Ashden, who are co-ordinating a coalition, with IKEA as a partner, to support all 32,000 UK schools’ efforts to become zero carbon by 2030.
Orlagh McColgan, a nine-year-old student from St Edmunds Primary School in Maidenhead, spoke about the work her school are doing, and called for more funding for her school’s sustainability policies. She captured the attention of the room, telling MPs that: “Everyone has to do their part, and where better to do it than in schools? Not only are you inspiring the adults of the future, but you are also sending them home to inspire their parents.”
To find out more about Ashden’s campaign visit: letsgozero.org
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