Ingka Group, the largest Ikea retailer with stores in 31 markets that represent about 90% of Ikea retail sales, has said it is investing €1.5 billion in energy efficiency as part of its transition to renewable sources and phasing out the direct use of fossil fuels.
The business’s investment in energy efficiency improvements and renewable heating and cooling technology will contribute to its target of reducing its climate footprint from own operations by 85% between 2016 and 2030, it said.
Ikea has already committed €7.5 billion in offsite renewable energy production and technologies.
Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group, said: “The future of energy must be renewable, and this additional investment will enable us to reduce our carbon emissions, increase efficiency and lower costs in the long term. It’s also good for business – a win-win”
He added that ending the company’s reliance on fossil fuels is an essential part of tackling the climate crisis and halving global emissions by 2030.
“At Ikea, we started our journey in 2009 and have invested heavily in both on- and offsite renewable energy production to enable the transition,” he explained.
“We have already reduced emissions across our Ikea stores by 60.4% since 2016 and 96% of our retail sites now use renewable electricity.”
The retailer said heating and cooling are currently the largest drivers of emissions within Ingka’s own operations category. The new pledge is expected to accelerate ongoing efforts to retrofit Ikea units with energy efficiency upgrades and renewable heating and cooling.
Ikea promises that all new units will be built with renewable heating and cooling, and work is already under way to retrofit 150 existing properties.
Karen Pflug, chief sustainability officer at Ingka Group, remarked: “Transitioning to renewable heating and cooling is a vital enabler on our decarbonisation journey; however, it’s a complex and costly process.”
Ikea is part of several business environmental campaign and pressure groups and it said it wants governments to rapidly scale up renewable energy through targets as well as incentives and at the same time phasing out fossil fuel and connected subsidies.
It has also called for policymakers to invest in the required grid infrastructure fit for distributed renewable generation and the needs for electrification, while setting stronger energy efficiency regulations across all sectors.
Ikea has also urged governments to simplify permitting processes around renewable energy projects and infrastructure while respecting a just transition, local communities, and environmental standards. It believes those running countries should encourage and incentivise the renovation and retrofitting of commercial and residential buildings including insulation, heating/cooling, and energy storage.
[image credit: Green Retail World]
