UK brand M&S commits to become net zero by 2040

The target would see M&S achieve full net zero ten years ahead of the government’s UK-wide strategy and will require rapid decarbonisation of its business to cut its carbon footprint by a third by 2025, M&S said in a press release.

With the scale of the climate challenge bigger and more urgent than ever before, Steve Rowe, M&S CEO, has written to its global supplier base and hosted a business-wide event to rally its 70,000 colleagues behind plans to put a sustainable future at the heart of its transformation strategy.

Speaking to stakeholders, Steve Rowe said, “We launched Plan A 14 years ago, because we knew then there was no Plan B for our planet. We now face a climate emergency, and in resetting Plan A with a singular focus we can drive the delivery of net zero across our entire end-to-end supply chain. This won’t be easy. We need to transform how we make, move and sell our products to customers and fundamentally change the future shape of our business. This is not a far-away promise; we must act now to rapidly cut our footprint. To deliver this, we need our colleagues to better understand the carbon impact of our products and processes, we need to back our suppliers to innovate and adapt to the changing environment and we must work together to help customers enjoy lower carbon lives.”

As part of its roadmap to net zero, M&S also introduced three key colleague initiatives. It has already identified 100 colleagues as ‘Carbon Champions’ across key roles in buying, sourcing and operations to drive net zero delivery. The retailer is developing a programme of learning to grow carbon literacy and equip its colleagues with the understanding to identify carbon-related risks and opportunities. Finally, to harness colleagues’ passion across the globe, M&S will launch a new online Green Network so they can share ideas, inspiration, and innovation.

As an own brand retailer, M&S is uniquely positioned to work with its long-standing trusted supplier partners to find new and better ways of doing things. To deliver its goal of net zero, it is essential the retailer works in partnership with suppliers to deliver positive change, as 97 per cent of its Scope 3 emissions come from the supply chain. M&S has committed to zero deforestation in palm oil and soy sourcing by 2025, sourcing more sustainable fibres by 2025 and supporting its Select Farm partners to advance lower carbon farming methods with its five-year Farming with Nature programme.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)