Walmart shares successes behind supplier emissions reduction initiative

In 2017, the store launched “Project Gigaton.” Its goal was to work with its suppliers to reduce, avoid, or sequester 1 gigaton (1 billion metric tons) of greenhouse gas emissions in product value chains by 2030.

On Feb. 20, Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon revealed the goal has already been reached.

“Our merchants and suppliers got to work and made investments in practical things like energy efficiency, packaging redesign, and load optimization,” he told investors during an earnings call. “… We’ll continue to work with our suppliers on real initiatives with real-world impacts that make our products better and our business stronger.”

A day after McMillon’s announcement, Kathleen McLaughlin, executive vice president and chief sustainability officer at Walmart, authored a blog post in which she shared the factors driving the success of the initiative, including:

• Setting science-based goals and actions to determine a target for emissions reduction approved by the Science-Based Targets initiative;
• Taking immediate action to work with suppliers on setting goals for emissions reduction;
• Working with suppliers to accommodate their needs, including holding best practices summits and providing support resources;
• Reengaging suppliers annually to discuss new targets and incentivize continued improvement; and
• Acknowledging customer benefits made possible by the project.

McLaughlin said Walmart is still working toward its goal of zero operational emissions—Scopes 1 and 2—by 2040. Regarding Scope 3, the retailer is “assessing which elements of our Scope 3 footprint are addressable and which elements are largely outside our control, which reductions can be achieved through low-cost interventions, and which ones are expensive or not feasible through today’s technology,” she wrote.

She shared her desire for Project Gigaton to “continue to set the standard for corporate climate action.”

“[W]e’ll continue to work with our suppliers on real initiatives with real-world impacts that make our products better and our business stronger while continuing to enhance how we support our suppliers on goal setting, learning, solutions, and estimating emissions,” she said.