There is no denying just how formidable IKEA is in the home furnishing division all across the world. This Swedish conglomerate was founded back in 1943, and the world hasn’t been the same ever since, in a good way of course.
Considering that the company is highly influential, while earning approximately $50 billion annually, many want to know exactly what they are doing in terms of sustainability and how they are actually helping the planet.
Much like Apple, Walmart and other massive corporations, IKEA has decided to work towards becoming more environmentally friendly by cutting their emissions at least 50 percent by the year 2030. Furthermore, they promise to move towards carbon neutrality by the year 2050.
In the meantime, the company will “fill the gap with clean energy.” How you ask? The plan is to allow customers to ‘buy wind and solar electricity and infrastructure’ from them. Pretty impressive, right?
How the company estimates their responsibility in emissions is by calculating how much comes from their electrical appliances sales, while factoring in how much electricity it takes to power those said appliances. Then, the outcome is the figure that they apply to their future climate targets.
Jan Gardberg, who happens to be the New Retail Business Manager of the Ingka Group, said in a statement, “At IKEA, we want to become fully circular and climate positive by 2030, built on renewable energy and resources. We believe the future of energy is renewable and we want to make electricity from sustainable sources more accessible and affordable for all.”
The Ingka Group has managed 367 of the 423 IKEA stores found worldwide since 2016. The group has also invested at least €2.5 billion, which is equivalent to $2.76 billion, in renewable energy, which includes ‘two solar parks in the U.S., a wind farm in Romania, and 534 wind turbines in 14 countries.’
Moreover, the group has installed almost a million solar panels in most of their stores, while also marketing IKEA-brand solar panels to another 11 markets worldwide. Aside from how they use this renewable energy to power their business, it can even be bought by the company’s customers.
IKEA customers that live in Sweden can use the STRÖMMA offer to buy electricity generated via solar and wind, where they use an app to track their electricity usage. And for those customers that purchased the IKEA solar panels, they can even use the app to track their own solar production, which they can sell back to the company if they don’t use it all up.
Currently, customers that want to avail of the IKEA solar power are only those that live in Sweden. But due to the fact that the company has 100 wind turbines more than the number of stores they own, it won’t come as a surprise if they begin selling utilities in other countries as well.
The Race to Zero Initiative
IKEA isn’t the only brand working towards a more sustainable future. Other corporations like H&M, Patagonia and the Kingfisher Group are all part of the “Race to Zero” initiative as well, which aims to take the retail industry forward when it comes to lessening global warming ‘to below levels outlined by the IPCC.’
Much like IKEA’s own targets towards emissions, the Race to Zero initiative promises to cut emissions in half by the year 2030, eventually becoming neutral by the year 2050. This is a difficult challenge for any retail company, especially when that company depends on cheap production costs and keeping their prices low.
CEO of Ingka Group I IKEA, Jesper Brodin said, “At IKEA, we have committed to becoming climate positive by 2030 and as part of that, we are also committed to the 1.5°C goal in the Paris Agreement. This movement seeks to engage the retail sector and by working together and acting with speed, focusing on what makes real impact, we can truly make a difference. For people and the planet.”
Moreover, their website also shared, “Engagement in the Race to Zero Breakthroughs: Retail Campaign is an opportunity for retailers to help the retail sector accelerate a whole-economy transition for a health, resilient, zero-carbon future. Retailers will receive sector-specific guidance, access to networks and a ready-made strategic template to achieve net-zero emissions.”
Although the fight towards zero emissions is still a couple of decades away, IKEA has already been working towards making big changes, like buying up forest lands to help with the continued absorption of CO2, as well as buying back their old furniture so that they don’t end up in landfills that add to the global garbage pandemic.
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