ICA Gruppen’s climate work recognised by the UN in Global Climate Action Awards

The UN announced today that ICA Gruppen has received an award for its “Beyond Climate Neutrality” climate ambition. The award will be presented in connection with the UN COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November. ICA is being recognised for its work to achieve climate neutrality in its own operations and its ambition to at the same time drive change for reduced climate impact both upstream in the supply chain as well as downstream among consumers.

ICA Gruppen’s own operations became climate neutral in 2020 after greenhouse gas emissions were reduced with 76 per cent since 2006. The remaining emissions from own operations are offset through carbon credits. At the same time, the Group has set a target for net zero emissions from its own operations by 2030 and to cut the climate impact of customers’ grocery purchases in half by the same year.

“I am immensely proud of the progress we have achieved thus far. When we set our targets for 2020 we thought they would be tough to achieve, but then we exceeded them. As we now take our next step – beyond climate neutrality – it is extremely gratifying to receive such recognition for our work,” says Per Strömberg, CEO of ICA Gruppen.

A total of eleven winners have been named in the UN Global Climate Action Awards, of which four are in the Climate Neutral Now category, which includes ICA. The award will be presented at the UN COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November. The winning contributions are considered to be innovative and scalable, i.e., possible for others to follow. In 2016, ICA Gruppen was awarded by UN as one of the winners in the Information and Communication Technology category for the project Climate right (Klimaträtt), making ICA Gruppen the only Swedish company to be awarded by the UN twice.

ICA was the first grocery retailer in Sweden to have its climate targets approved by Science Based Targets in 2018 and the first to set targets for reducing the climate impact of customers’ grocery purchases.

“As much as a third of the global climate impact today comes from food production,  so as a grocery retailer we have a unique opportunity to make a difference, since we are a link between production and consumption. Taking responsibility for, and trying to impact, the emissions that our consumption gives rise to is something that all retailers can do,” says Kerstin Lindvall, Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer at ICA Gruppen.

ICA Gruppen’s focus on driving reduced climate impact also outside of its own operations is not limited to the grocery retail business conducted by ICA Sweden and Rimi Baltic. Apotek Hjärtat has set a goal to cut the climate impact of its customers’ pharmacy products in half by 2030, and ICA Real Estate has a target to build with a net zero climate impact by the same year.

Facts about ICA Gruppen’s climate ambition:

ICA Gruppen:

• Will achieve a net zero climate impact from its own operations by 2030*
• Wants to cut the climate impact of customers’ grocery purchases in half by 2030, compared with 2020
• Has set a goal that its largest suppliers** will have adopted science-based climate targets by 2025 at the latest

ICA Gruppen reduced the climate impact of its own operations by 76 per cent between 2006 and 2020. This includes Scope 1 and 2 emissions according to the GHG protocol as well as parts of Scope 3, especially since emissions from retailer-owned stores are included. For exact definitions and reporting principles, see ICA Gruppen’s Annual and Sustainability Report.

* ICA Gruppen follows Science Based Target initiative’s development of a new standard for net zero targets, and has the intention of getting the target approved by SBTi when the standard has been launched

** Together representing 70 per cent of the Group’s upstream climate impact.

For more information 
ICA Gruppen press service, telephone number: +46 (0)10 422 52 52, e-mail: press@ica.se
ica.se, icagruppen.se