K-ryhmä: Kesko's new science-based emission targets approved - targets cover the whole value chain and extend to 2050

"The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has long been one of the key focus areas for Kesko's sustainability strategy. We have now updated our science-based emission reduction targets to align with the most recent international standards. We are raising our climate efforts to a new level across all our operating countries. Achieving the ambitious net-zero targets requires changes not only from Kesko but also from our entire supply chain and society at large," says Noomi Jägerhorn, Kesko's Vice President of Sustainability.

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has assessed Kesko's new emission reduction targets, and validated them as science-based. 

The Science Based Targets initiative aims to guide companies and financial institutions to set and implement science-based emission reduction targets that are consistent with the most recent climate science and align with the Paris Agreement, which requires targets and actions to limit global warming to 1.5 °C.

The majority of emissions derive from the production and use of products sold - collaboration with suppliers crucial

The most significant sources of scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for Kesko are fuel usage in transportation, logistics operations and company cars, and the use of district heat.

"We can significantly reduce emissions from our own operations by electrifying transports, improving energy efficiency, and recycling waste heat. By 2030, electric vehicles are estimated to account for some 30% of the transport fleet in Kesko's grocery trade. Some 90 K Group grocery stores and 6 Kespro cash-and-carry outlets already employ a heat recycling system that efficiently reduces their heating energy consumption and emissions. We are also exploring entirely new solutions: for example, the K-Supermarket Mankkaa store in Espoo utilises waste heat from a nearby data centre to obtain nearly all the heating energy needed for the store," explains Noomi Jägerhorn.

In the trading sector, the majority of greenhouse gas emissions are generated during the lifecycle - the production and use - of products purchased and sold.

"Our store selections comprise hundreds of thousands of products, and so to reduce emissions, we need to work together with all the companies we purchase products from. For several years now, we have been challenging our biggest suppliers to set science-based emission targets. We are now expanding the scope to include more suppliers, strengthening our collaboration and encouraging the suppliers to up the level of ambition for their emission targets and actions," says Jägerhorn.

One of the ways of reducing emissions in the value chain is impacting purchase decisions made by customers.

"Together with suppliers, we can impact value chain emissions also by developing our selections and by encouraging our customers to make more sustainable choices. In Kesko's three business divisions, this could mean, for example, plant-based products in grocery trade, solar panels and air-source heat pumps in building and technical trade, and fully electric cars in car trade," says Jägerhorn.
 

* SBTi also requires setting Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) targets, if emissions related to forest, land and agriculture account for at least 20% of the company's total emissions. Kesko has now calculated its FLAG emissions and set targets for them for the first time. In Kesko's operations, FLAG emissions arise mostly from the primary production of food products.

** The Net-Zero Standard is the most ambitious of the SBTi's science-based emission reduction standards. With the net-zero criteria, any emissions remaining after a company has achieved its science-based emission reductions must be neutralised in ways that remove carbon from the atmosphere and permanently store it.

Ambitious corporate climate action - Science Based Targets initiative

Further information:

Noomi Jägerhorn, Vice President, Sustainability, Kesko, tel. +358 105 323 392, noomi.jagerhorn@kesko.fi

Hanna Jaakkola, Vice President, Investor Relations, Kesko, tel. +358 105 323 540, hanna.jaakkola@kesko.fi

K Group media desk, tel. +358 105 350 200, viestinta@kesko.fi

DISTRIBUTION

Main news media
www.kesko.fi

Kesko and K-retailers together form K Group, whose retail sales total around €16 billion. K Group is the leading trading sector operator in Northern Europe and it employs approximately 45,000 people. Kesko operates in grocery trade, building and technical trade, and car trade. Its divisions and chains act in close cooperation with retailer entrepreneurs and other partners. Kesko's net sales total around €12 billion and Kesko employs approximately 18,000 people. Kesko's chain operations include approximately 1,700 stores in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Kesko's shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. The company's domicile and main premises are in Helsinki. www.kesko.fi