Climate Action
We’re committed to avoiding the most dangerous impacts of climate change by achieving net zero and enhancing the Partnership’s resilience to the effects of such change.
We’re aware that our activities create greenhouse gases through the use of fossil fuels in our transport fleet, gas heating in our properties, refrigerants in our stores and agriculture and manufacturing in our global supply chains. As a responsible retailer, we must act to reduce our emissions, find renewable sources to fuel our operations and look critically at our impact across our entire value chain.
It is in our supply chains where we make the greatest difference to the environment. That’s why we’re committed to working with our suppliers to reduce the embodied carbon impact in the products we sell, from farm to fork and factory to front room.
Commitments
- Achieve net zero in our operations (scope 1 and 2) by 2035;
- Achieve net zero across our UK farms (scope 3) by 2035;
- Achieve net zero across our entire value chain (scope 3) by 2050.
Highlights
Mission Statement: To reduce our impact on climate change by reaching net zero in our own operations and supply chains.
Net Zero UK Farms
15% reduction
in scope 3 Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) emissions since 2020/21 baseline.
As part of our commitment to achieve net zero across our UK farms by 2035, we’ve reduced the environmental footprint of our Leckford Estate farm. Key changes include using fewer pesticides and adding more hedgerows. We are also working with key suppliers to develop action plans to achieve net zero.
Fleet Decarbonisation
50% reduction
in transport carbon emissions compared to 2018.
This year, we put an additional 43 biomethane trucks on the road and improved truck aerodynamics. We also tested a fully electric heavy-goods vehicle, operated 65 trucks that self-generate electricity to power their trailer refrigeration systems and increased to 284 the number of electrical connections to power trailer refrigeration at depots.
Carbon-Cutting Tools
30% reduction
in our scope 3 Energy and Industrial emissions since 2020/21 baseline.
We’re working hard to embed carbon-literate decision-making across our business, introducing helpful tools in key areas. In 2024 we focused on packaging. During 2025, we plan to introduce further tools covering transportation and ingredient replacement, empowering our teams to make positive choices that reduce our climate impact, particularly in scope 3 emissions.
Emissions Reductions
24.3% reduction
in group scope 1 & 2 emissions since 2020/21 baseline.
We’ve continued our investment in infrastructure that helps us reduce our scope 1 and 2 emissions as part of our overall push to achieve net zero. This includes further installations of carbon saving systems, installing 18 heat pumps (14 installed as part of refrigeration upgrades and four as standalone heat pumps) in Waitrose shops and the pioneering AirDoor™ technology at nine of our John Lewis and Waitrose stores.
Awards
Winner, The Just Transition to Net-Zero, edie Net-Zero Awards 2024
Winner, Low Carbon Award, Motor Transport Awards 2024
Scope 1 and 2 investment
We continue to make strong progress towards our scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction targets, fuelled by ongoing investment in our fleet and estate to reduce our impact and meet our net zero goals.
Progress
Extending our scope 3 efforts
Our Responsible Manufacturing programme has now grown to include more than 350 suppliers who have provided climate and environmental data for 690 facilities. As well as monitoring performance, the programme provides tools, information and other support for suppliers’ decarbonisation efforts.
We have also asked suppliers representing the largest proportion of our emissions to join us in setting science-based targets in line with a 1.5˚C pathway. To date, Waitrose suppliers representing more than a third of our supply chain scope 3 footprint have had their targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative.
In addition, we have started engaging key supply chain partners and farming groups to support them with their net zero transition, including developing specific scope 3 emissions reduction roadmaps for key suppliers.
Challenges
As we continue to grow our business, it’s critical that we decouple emissions from sales. An important part of this is ensuring we can quantify and report the reductions already happening across our supply chain.
But carbon accounting remains an emerging discipline, and the availability and quality of scope 3 data is often limited. This is compounded by supply chain complexity meaning that assumptions and estimations are a necessary part of calculating our footprint. As a result, we’re not always able to fully capture the carbon benefits of these interventions. Despite this, our investment in vital supply chain initiatives, such as our responsibly sourced raw materials programme, remains ongoing.
More broadly, achieving net zero requires a coordinated effort across sectors that is led effectively by positive national policy. As such, it is critical that the government establishes enabling legal and policy frameworks as part of a regulatory environment that drives carbon reduction, supports innovation and promotes sustainable practices.
Looking Forward
Overcoming the challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emissions requires more collaboration, greater technological innovation and consistent standards across industries. That’s why we’ll continue to work closely with our peers, industry bodies and NGOs to unlock solutions to reach net zero.
Over the coming year, despite the inherent complexity of carbon accounting, we intend to accelerate our focus on scope 3 decarbonisation initiatives, piloting both innovative and proven approaches to help our supply chains minimise their impact.
We also welcome publication by the Institute for Grocery Distribution of a food sector transition plan, and we are exploring producing our own plan to drive our approach to becoming a resilient net zero business that meets its stretching climate commitments.
Case Study
Cutting our fleet’s climate impact
In line with our commitment to operate a fully fossil-free fleet by 2030, over 70% of our heavy-duty trucks now run exclusively on biomethane. Alongside this, we’re continuing to invest in even more efficient technologies to further reduce the impact of our fleet.
We’re always looking for innovative solutions to reduce the impact of our fleet, including engaging with customers through initiatives such as Waitrose’s greener delivery slots.
Converting the majority of our heavy-duty trucks to biomethane, as well as electrifying other aspects of the fleet, means we’re well on the way to meeting our goal of a fossil-free fleet by 2030. Our fleet’s carbon impact is now half what it was in 2018.
However, this progress is far from the end of the road. Reducing fuel usage remains vital to our strategy, which is why we’ve worked with the University of Cambridge to design a new trailer that reduces drag and improves aerodynamics. This change saves over 3% of fuel costs and cuts carbon emissions.
We have sought to minimise the impact of our refrigerated trailers, with 65 trucks now able to generate their own electricity for use in their refrigeration systems. They can now be powered directly at our facilities, using electricity that mostly comes from renewable sources, rather than by diesel. These trucks are also quieter and emit less pollutants.
As we seek vehicles with even lower carbon impacts, we’re also trialling a fully electric heavy goods truck. Our initial tests show that ranges still need to improve for long-term viability, but this technology is currently in its infancy. We will continue supporting this and other innovations in the sector as they develop at pace.
“It has been a great pleasure to work with the John Lewis Partnership on its decarbonisation journey for more than a decade. Together, we have developed some highly effective solutions. This collaboration is an exemplar for how industry and academia can work together to solve challenging technical and operational problems.” Prof. David Cebon, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
