Continued progress underlines company’s
aspirational goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its
operations and value chain.
Today, Walmart announced that suppliers have reported reducing
more than 20 million metric tons (MMT) of greenhouse gas emissions
in the global value chain, as part of the company’s Project Gigaton
initiative. Walmart launched Project Gigaton last April, seeking to
work with suppliers to reduce emissions from the company’s value
chain by a gigaton, or one billion metric tons, by 2030. The
emissions reduction progress was shared at Walmart’s annual
Sustainability Milestone Summit, where expanded commitments on
solar and wind power, as well as electric vehicle (EV) charging
stations, were also discussed.
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the full release here:
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“In its first year, Project Gigaton has helped to inspire action
that has led to the avoidance of millions of metric tons of
greenhouse gas emissions and has expanded into an international
campaign that includes the participation of several hundred
suppliers,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, senior vice president and
chief sustainability officer for Walmart. “The early success of
Project Gigaton parallels ongoing progress in our operational
efforts that seek to double our U.S. renewable energy use and
expand our customer electric vehicle charging hubs to retail
outlets across more than 30 states.”
With the recent expansion of Project Gigaton in China and the
U.K., more than 400 suppliers with operations in more than 30
countries have joined the program. Suppliers can commit to
reductions in any of six pillars that include energy, agriculture,
waste, packaging, deforestation and product use. Approximately 85
percent of the Project Gigaton emissions reductions reported by
suppliers have focused their efforts on the energy and product use
pillars, with projects devoted to areas such as renewable energy
investments and the development of more efficient products.
“This annual milestone marks a pivot point for Walmart and 400
of its suppliers to share solutions and lessons learned. The next
step is to deepen commitments that unlock the potential of this
platform,” said Carter Roberts, president and CEO, World
Wildlife Fund (WWF). “We need collaborative initiatives like
Project Gigaton and We Are Still In. With sufficient goals and
results they can help define our country’s ability to build a
sustainable future. And they also shape the world’s understanding
of our commitment to solving climate change.”
“With Project Gigaton, Walmart is raising the bar for innovation
and collaboration across its supply chain,” said Fred Krupp,
president of Environmental Defense Fund. “In Project Gigaton’s
second year, we hope to see even more Walmart suppliers setting
targets based in science, ensuring that business, people and nature
thrive.”
A highlight from the summit was a commitment made by Project
Gigaton participant, Procter & Gamble (P&G), to cut 50 MMT
of emissions from its operations and value chain by 2030. P&G
will achieve this through inviting customers to join the Tide
#QuickColdPledge, switching to quick and cold laundry cycles to use
less water, 80 percent less energy and create 40 percent fewer
emissions in every load, as well as committing to source 100
percent renewable electricity in its North American operations by
2020.
“Walmart’s Gigaton goal is ambitious and demonstrates the impact
we can have when we collaborate on a common goal,” said Carolyn
Tastad, Group President of North America, P&G. “At P&G, we
share Walmart’s commitment to making measurable progress and a
positive impact across our brands, supply chain, society and our
employees.”
Another key announcement made at the summit is that Walmart
plans to more than double its EV charging station sites with the
addition of several hundred charging stalls across its operations
in 34 states. This expansion will bring Walmart’s total number of
charging units to well over 1,000 when complete, making Walmart one
of the nation’s leading EV charging station hosts and creating a
national grid of electric vehicle charging availability at hundreds
of Walmart stores and Sam’s Club locations.
Walmart’s EV charging station expansion will provide customers
with added convenience as several of the new units will feature
super-fast chargers that can charge a car in between 10 to 30
minutes. This initiative is part of Walmart’s continuing evolution
to help busy families and create a more resourceful and enjoyable
one stop retail experience that allows customers to charge their
vehicles as they shop.
Expanding Renewable Energy Use
Walmart also discussed recent progress in renewable energy that
will move it closer toward its 2025 goal of being supplied globally
with 50 percent renewable energy.
As a result of several new solar and wind projects, Walmart
plans to more than double the amount of renewable energy it uses in
the U.S. and increase the percentage of global electricity needs
supplied by renewable sources above the current 28 percent.
The new initiatives include expansion of on-site solar energy
installments. Walmart, already the leading company in the U.S. for
number of locations utilizing on-site solar energy, plans to add an
additional 130 sites which will bring its total to approximately
500 locations across 22 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, surpassing its
2014 goal to double its onsite solar use by 2020.
Walmart recently reached an agreement to acquire renewable
energy that will enable the building of two new large-scale wind
farms developed by Geronimo Energy and Engie. The 1.26 billion kWh
produced annually from this arrangement will be equivalent to the
majority of the electricity needed to power Walmart stores, Sam’s
Clubs and distribution centers across seven Midwestern states.
These new wind energy deals come only weeks after the retailer
announced that most of the renewable energy certificates (RECs)
generated from a new solar farm in Alabama will supply 150 million
kWh each year to the retailer, covering 40 percent of the company’s
electricity needs in the Alabama Power service area.
Additionally, earlier this month Walmart announced that it had
successfully collaborated with Google and Georgia Power on an
initiative that will result in the retailer obtaining 182 million
kWh of additional renewable energy annually. Once the new Georgia
Power arrangement is operational, approximately 34 percent of
Walmart’s power demand for its retail locations served by Georgia
Power will come from the renewable sources in the program.
Cumulatively, these new solar and wind projects will provide
over 1.6 billion kWh of renewable energy annually to Walmart,
equivalent to the average annual electricity use of over 139,000
homes and thus doubling Walmart’s renewable energy use in the U.S.
and moving it closer towards its 2025 goal of being supplied with
50 percent renewable energy.
To view the Sustainability Milestone Summit replay, please
visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Fba190_JQ
To receive more information on Project Gigaton and Walmart’s
sustainability efforts, please visit:
https://www.walmartsustainabilityhub.com/
About Walmart
Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save
money and live better - anytime and anywhere - in retail stores,
online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, nearly 270
million customers and members visit our more than 11,700 stores
under 65 banners in 28 countries and eCommerce websites. With
fiscal year 2018 revenue of $500.3 billion, Walmart employs
approximately 2.3 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues
to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and
employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be
found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com, on Facebook
at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter
at http://twitter.com/walmart.
WALMART SUSTAINABILITY MILESTONE
MEETINGADDITIONAL QUOTES FOR MEDIA USE
BENTONVILLE, Ark., April 18, 2018
Ingrid De Ryck, VP, Procurement and Sustainability,
Anheuser-Busch:
“More and more, consumers are choosing to engage with companies
that are doing good in the world. Industry leaders like
Anheuser-Busch and Walmart have a responsibility to set an example
and be good stewards of the environment. It’s not just the right
thing to do, it’s good for business. We applaud Walmart for its
commitment to sustainability through Project Gigaton and look
forward to working together to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.”
Anh Marella, Marketing Director, Avery Dennison:
"Transforming our company, supply chain and industry requires
collaboration and innovation. At Avery Dennison, we're proud to
offer products and solutions made with fewer inputs, and
with certified and renewable
materials. Our CleanFlake™ technology featured
at Project Gigaton, is a water-based adhesive, which cleanly
separates during the PET Plastic recycling process enabling true
bottle-to-bottle recycling."
Joe Walicki, President, Power Solutions, Johnson
Controls:
“We applaud Walmart’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, and we’re proud to be part of this important
initiative,” said Walicki. “Johnson Controls is dedicated to using
less energy and resources through both our closed-loop recycling
system and our smart battery technologies, which power one in three
vehicles around the world.”
Euan Murray, CEO, The Sustainability Consortium:
“The Sustainability Consortium is proud to continue to support
Walmart during year two of Project Gigaton, a critical initiative
that brings together top suppliers with the companies and
organizations to create leaders in the movement to reduce our
collective carbon footprint. We look forward to continuing our work
as a measurement partner on Project Gigaton and the Walmart
Sustainability Index in the coming year,” said Euan Murray, TSC
Chief Executive.
Tom Hayes, President and CEO, Tyson Foods:
"As the largest U.S. food company, we’re putting sustainability
at the center of everything we’re doing. We have the opportunity –
and responsibility – to make a big difference, but we can’t do it
alone,” said Tyson Foods President and CEO Tom Hayes. “We’re proud
to team up with Walmart and are working with farmers, ranchers and
others to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by
2030 and support improved environmental practices on two million
acres of cropland by 2020. Solving complex challenges isn’t
easy – but working together, we’re making progress every day.”
Luiz Amaral, Global Executive Manager, World Resources
Institute:
“An estimated 70 percent of tropical deforestation is driven by
the production of palm oil, soy, beef, cocoa and other agricultural
commodities. To effectively tackle greenhouse gas emissions,
companies must address deforestation in their supply chains,” said
Luiz Amaral, Global Manager of GFW Pro, World Resources Institute.
“But supply chains can be complex and difficult to track, so the
first step is measuring where sourcing poses risks. Technology –
like WRI’s Global Forest Watch - can help any company involved with
Project Gigaton gain insights into its supply chain to make better
decisions and track progress toward its goals.”
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180418005917/en/
Walmart Media RelationsFelicia McCranie,
1-800-331-0085orMicah Ragland,
1-800-331-0085news.walmart.com/reporter
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