CASE STUDY BRITISH RETAIL CONSORTIUM

Climate action roadmap for UK retail industry

Working with the BRC and UK retailers to set Net Zero targets, and plot the pathways for decarbonisation.

AREA CLIMATE, NATURE AND RESOURCES

LEAD SIMON MILLER

CLIENT BRC

he British Retail Consortium (BRC) is the UK trade association for retail businesses, with the purpose to make a positive difference to the retail industry and the customers it serves. In late 2019, the BRC and 20 retailers, committed to create a roadmap to support the industry to rapidly and significantly decarbonise. This was planned for release at COP26 scheduled in November 2020.

3Keel formed a consortium with Canopy: Sustainability Consulting and Mike Barry, to support and guide the development of the industry roadmap. Our consortium worked in partnership with the BRC team, and were led by a Steering Group comprised of 20 BRC members who were the signatories of the climate statement.

“The consultant team of 3Keel, Canopy and Mike Barry were outstanding. This was a challenging task, made even harder by the impacts of COVID, but their processes and final outputs secured the confidence and support of our members. Now the work starts to ensure we meet the net zero targets that have been set.”

Peter Andrews, BRC Head of Sustainability Policy, 2015-2021

The BRC and retailer Steering Group were clear on their aims: to set ambitious targets to galvanise the industry to come together on climate action; and signal to government where support is needed to enable decarbonisation. We supported a process that converted this ambition to net zero targets for scope 2 emissions by 2030, scope 1 by 2035 and the ambition for scope 3 by 2040.

The first wave of COVID-19 hit the UK in Spring 2020, with devastating impacts for many retailers. The roadmap project was delayed as retailers responded to the pandemic, and the delay of COP26 impacted on plans for release. However, in spite of these disruptions, the roadmap and decarbonisation targets remained an important focus for the Steering Group and BRC, with climate action critical to ‘building back better’ from the pandemic.

The roadmap is structured around five ‘pathways’ to assist retailers on their journeys to decarbonisation, with a series of milestones at five-year intervals to guide the industry on the key action areas. Detailed guidance is provided for each pathway, to help retailers, their suppliers and partners. The roadmap provides an excellent tool for retailers and businesses in the retail supply chain to assess their progress and develop decarbonisation plans. The roadmap also makes clear the government action required to enable decarbonisation and the important role BRC will play to support implementation.

The final output – the BRC Climate Action Roadmap – was supported by 63 UK retailers of varying sizes and types of the retail industry. The Roadmap was launched on 10 November 2020 by the Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and COP26 President, with Steve Murrells, CEO of The Co-op Group (2012-2022), Peter Jelkeby, UK&IE CEO of IKEA Group, and BRC Chief Executive, Helen Dickinson OBE.

The full Climate Action Roadmap can be accessed on the BRC website, along with a short Executive Summary.