Morrisons pledges earlier net-zero shift backed by own solar farm
Supermarket giant Morrisons has brought forward its commitment to be net zero from its own operations by 2035.
The target, which is five years earlier than initially pledged, comes as Morrisons announced plans to work with more environmentally-friendly farms in the UK, use low carbon vehicles, reduce food waste and lower food miles.
The company, which was recently taken over in a £7bn deal, has also become the first supermarket to own and operate its own solar farm across a number of its sites.
The solar operation will stretch to 230,000 panels and produce energy to supply 20% of the power to the stores involved. It is estimated they will reduce 21,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
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.”
Morrisons is working with the Carbon Trust to measure its emissions and set science-based carbon reduction targets. It is also working with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) on the approval of its ‘Scope 3’ targets. It will report on progress every year.
Hugh Jones, managing director – advisory, at the Carbon Trust said: “By aligning its goals with a 1.5°C future Morrisons is ensuring it builds resilience firmly into its business model and will be positioned to thrive as the global economy moves to zero emissions.”
