Supermarkets have been urged to accelerate efforts to decarbonise their cold supply chains, or the sector will miss key environmental targets.
Up to 70% of the global supermarket sector’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions currently stem from cooling systems, either within stores or across the supply chain, a new “first of its kind” report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has revealed.
The vast majority of these emissions are from either energy consumption or the use of super pollutant hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) gases as refrigerants.
The report looked at data from five global supermarket groups: Tesco, Ahold Delhaize, Carrefour, Jerónimo Martins and Metro AG. It found that despite current targets to phase out HFCs for more sustainable cooling solutions, retailers will fall short of the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degree threshold to limit global warming by 2100, unless they step up their efforts.
While the warnings are stark, the report – called Cooling The Climate Crisis – offers hope, in the form of a sustainability framework for retailers to follow, in order to cut their own emissions.
The Net Zero Supermarket Cooling Pathway has four steps. The first is for supermarkets to disclose more data on their refrigerant emissions. Secondly, supermarkets should work to cut emissions by phasing out HFCs and doing more to stem leaks.
For step three, supermarkets should also seek to reduce their energy usage by upgrading chillers and freezers, including adding doors. Finally, they should work more closely with their cold supply chain to influence suppliers to reduce emissions, particularly in transport.
Read more: UK’s top supermarkets ‘failing against own environmental pledges’
A framework specifically for the retail sector is a “first of its kind” claimed author Fionnuala Walravens, EIA UK senior climate campaigner. It provided a “structured” and detailed approach for supermarkets to follow in order to reduce their carbon emissions.
“We see the pathway as a tool for assessing climate risk, evaluating sustainability performance, and driving decarbonisation in line with global climate targets,” Walravens told The Grocer.
“We intend to engage directly with supermarkets and encourage them to incorporate the pathway into their climate transition plans. Additionally, we plan to collaborate with retail sector investors – many of whom are actively seeking tangible emissions reductions.”
It was “hard” for EIA to establish a true understanding of how the UK sector is faring, due to limited transparency and information sharing, Walravens said. However, the UK is generally lagging behind the EU in its regulation of HFCs, which first banned the use of HFCs in secondary circuits of centralised refrigeration systems in 2022. The US is the global laggard.
Tesco was the only UK retailer to feature in the report. It was praised for its “notable progress” on switching to natural refrigerants in its supply chain, which were used in 33% of its stores, according to latest data from 2022. It has committed to phasing out HFCs by 2035.
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