The UK food supply chain is a remarkable thing. During my time at Tesco, I came to appreciate the skills and expertise that goes into getting everything consumers want, when they want it. But I also began to understand that the food system is fuelling climate change and driving catastrophic nature loss around the world.
Globally, food production uses 40% of habitable land and is responsible for around a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. That’s not just a problem for polar bears – it’s a major challenge for the supermarkets themselves.
The environmental crises we are seeing unfold – the unpredictable weather patterns, declines in pollinators, disasters that flood fields or wash away roads – put supermarkets’ commercial operations at risk. As these crises deepen, the effects will get worse. Without action, these impacts will be felt with increasing strength by all of us, through shortages and rising prices.
To address this risk, supermarkets – businesses that are utterly reliant on nature and a stable climate for the produce they sell – must put action on climate and nature at the top of the agenda.
Climate progress is not guaranteed
In the time since I stepped down as CEO of Tesco in 2020 and became chair of trustees at WWF, there has been increasing recognition of this within the sector. In 2021, seven major supermarkets, representing over 80% of the UK food grocery market, signed up to WWF’s Retailers’ Commitment for Nature. This commits them to halving the environmental impact of UK shopping baskets by 2030.
Given the history of targets set and targets missed, it would be naive to assume progress is guaranteed. But with extreme weather impacts increasingly being felt by farmers and across supply chains, supermarket leaders cannot afford to fail to play their part.
Read more: WWF says UK supermarkets ‘off track’ to meet critical environmental targets
Worryingly, however, it seems they’re on the brink of another missed target. This year’s WWF ‘What’s in Store for the Planet’ report, published last week, sets out the supermarkets’ progress since the programme began, based on voluntarily submitted data ranging from stats on packaging to carbon emissions and deforestation. There are some areas of progress, for example in direct and indirect carbon emissions, highlighting where most supermarkets are leading the way.
But the overall picture is that the sector is falling behind, remains far off track to meet the overall ambition, and looks highly likely to miss a key target on removing deforestation from supply chains next year.
Supermarkets must lead the charge
The time for excuses is over and the conditions are ripe for supermarkets to act. Customers are on board, the CMA has sent a clear signal that collaboration is possible, and the majority of the industry knows it must engage.
Businesses at every stage of the supply chain must move rapidly from being part of the problem to being part of the solution, and supermarkets must lead the charge. The goal to halve the environmental impact of the UK’s shopping baskets by 2030 was not plucked from thin air – it’s a science-based target designed to help avoid the worst effects of climate change and nature loss. Retailers must not kick the can down the road.
I know from personal experience that creating significant change in such global supply chains is not at all easy. But supermarkets, on behalf of their customers, have a major role to play in creating a more sustainable food system. For consumers and the planet, it is imperative they seize the day.
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