Commercial, Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions  -  February 22, 2024

Walmart Reaches Emission Goal Early

Walmart announced its goal to lower, avoid, or sequester 1 gigaton or 1 billion metric tons of its GHG emissions in product value chains was achieved six years early.

Through the initiative called Project Gigaton, the company’s merchants and suppliers achieved the reduction on projects such as energy efficiency, packaging redesign, food waste reduction, and trucking load optimization.

"Today, I am thrilled to announce that our suppliers have now reported projects that are expected to exceed that 1 billion metric ton mark — helping us reach our goal six years early," Kathleen McLaughlin, Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, Walmart, and President of the Walmart Foundation, said in a statement.

Walmart worked with scientists and product value chain experts including World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), World Resources Institute (WRI) and CDP for advice on how to estimate emissions, set a pace for reductions, identify ways to lower emissions and provide resources to build supplier capability in emissions reduction and measurement. 

The company’s program asked suppliers to set concrete goals for emissions reduction based on science-based, practical projects focused on the most relevant sources of emissions in their product value chains, such as energy use or agricultural practices.

Walmart hosted best-practice sharing summits, built resources such as the Circular Connector and Factory Energy Efficiency tools, and developed programs such as Gigaton PPA to extend renewable energy procurement for suppliers.

The company recently asked suppliers to begin reporting their complete operational emissions footprint to Walmart, in addition to setting targets and reporting results of emissions improvement projects.

Walmart is working to improve and expand Project Gigaton by enhancing estimates of its Scope 3 footprint as well as assessing which elements of its Scope 3 footprint are addressable and which elements are largely outside its control, which reductions can be achieved through low-cost interventions, and which ones are expensive or not feasible through today’s technology.

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