Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions, Industrial, Sourcing Renewables - November 15, 2021
Ahold Delhaize Commits to Net-zero Target by 2040
Dutch grocery retail company Ahold Delhaize and its brands announced it will commit to reach net-zero carbon emissions across their operations (Scopes 1 and 2) by no later than 2040. The company will become net-zero across its entire supply chain, products, and services (Scope 3)no later than by 2050.
Ahold Delhaize joined the Business Ambition for 1.5°C, a global coalition of UN agencies, business and industry leaders, in partnership with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the UN led campaign ‘Race to Zero’. The company has also conducted in-depth research on the impact of climate change following recommendations from the Taskforce Climate Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD).
“As a 150-year-old company, we are committed to do our part and ensure we can keep serving our customers and communities in a responsible way for the next 150 years,” said Frans Muller, CEO Ahold Delhaize, in a statement. “We believe we are taking the right steps, through stakeholder feedback and third-party recognition like the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, ranking us in the top 10% of companies and from MSCI, recently upgrading Ahold Delhaize from an ‘A’ to an ‘AA’ ESG rating.”
Ahold Delhaize’s current target is to reduce carbon emissions from its brands’ own operations by 50% by 2030 (2018 baseline). The key considerations are:
- More than half of the carbon emissions come from energy consumption,
- More than one-third of carbon emissions come from refrigeration systems and
- Less than 10% of carbon emissions originate from transport.
As a result, the Ahold Delhaize brands, which operate in the U.S., Europe, and Indonesia, continue to improve their own operations as follows:
- Replacing or retrofitting refrigerator systems with lower greenhouse gas alternatives, installing natural/hybrid systems and minimizing leakage from all systems,
- Accelerating the switch to renewable power, with a number of brands using 100% renewable electricity by 2023,
- Building and remodeling stores in the most energy efficient way: installing LED lighting, adding doors to refrigerators and improving insulation,
- Switching to low carbon heating, including heat pumps and heat recuperation,
- Converting the light and heavy transportation fleet to zero-carbon alternatives including battery electric vehicles (BEV), and leveraging route optimization technology and improved fill mechanism to reduce overall energy use and
- Applying an internal carbon price model into investment proposals from its local brands.
Read These Related Articles:
Stay Up-To-Date
