By joining forces, Retailers and amfori can support the Global Community to win the Race to Zero

On the day set aside by the UN to put a spotlight on the pressing environmental challenges the world is facing, amfori is calling on all retail companies, including its own retail members, to commit to the goals of the Race to Zero Retail Breakthrough Campaign. 

The Campaign backed by the United Nations High Level Climate Champions, hosted by WBCSD, and founded by retailers - Best Buy, H&M Group, Ingka Group (IKEA), Kingfisher plc and amfori member Walmart, aims to engage national and regional retail associations to help support their members to build capacity to decarbonise in order to catalyse a net zero breakthrough within the retail industry by 2030.

amfori, as a business association for sustainable trade that enables companies across the globe to improve the Environmental, Social and Governance performance of their value chains, joined the Campaign in December 2022 as an accelerator with the objective of advancing commitment to the Race to Zero goals.

We support our members to drive improvement in their environmental performance in their supply chains through our environmental due diligence service - amfori BEPI. This service covers eight environmental performance areas including energy and climate and waste. It also provides the members with a set of tools to assess and address shortcomings in these areas.

We also support awareness-raising and capacity building on environmental issues through our amfori Academy and the newly launched Climate Lab – a collaborative exchange and facilitation channel for amfori members to share best practices, engage with their suppliers, learn from other companies and experts, and keep abreast of policy trends.

Now, through our engagement with the Race to Zero Campaign, our retail members who join the Campaign will now also be able to tap into WBCSD’s Center of Excellence Resource Hub.

The retail industry is a particularly consequential player in the race to meet these targets. According to a report by the Boston Consulting Group the industry accounts for roughly 25% of all GHGs. But as amfori President Linda Kromjong states,

“The Race to Zero is a tough one. But as with a top relay team, we will need to bring the different attributes together of associations, retailers and climate champions to ensure that this is a race that the global community wins.”

Retailers and other amfori members interested in further information on the Race to Zero Retail Breakthrough Campaign and amfori’s work on Environmental Due Diligence can contact Guggi Laryea – guggi.laryea@amfori.org