Tesco has partnered with the Innovation Gateway to work with companies including Heathrow, Kingfisher and RBS on ways to reduce carbon emissions from its buildings.
Tesco has agreed to share findings from its existing eco-innovation work with members of the group, which also include Carillion, University of Cambridge and Unite Group.
The agreement will share Tesco’s leadership, learnings and best practice in lighting controls, air conditioning, and heat reclamation, and scale its impact by opening it up to others.
Kené Umeasiegbu, head of climate change and sustainable agriculture at Tesco said: “At Tesco, we want to continue to play our part in combating climate change. Our work includes deploying innovation to reduce energy use across our estate. Wherever appropriate, we will share our experience and learn from other companies and organisations through the Innovation Gateway. We hope this exchange can be a real benefit to each company and increase our impact in addressing climate change.”
Since the Paris Climate Agreement, Tesco created targets to meet a zero-carbon ambition, with plans to become a zero carbon business by 2050, by securing 100% of electricity from renewables by 2030.
The retailer has already invested £700 million into energy efficiency since 2007, leading to a reduction in emissions of 41% per square foot, with ambitions to achieve a 50% reduction per square foot of store by 2020.
Henry Majed, director of partnerships at Innovation Gateway, added: “It’s fantastic that a company with Tesco’s depth of experience is taking a lead in sharing all the innovative work that it has done to reduce energy, waste and water across its portfolio. This partnership reflects how important it is to leading organisations internationally the need to reduce environmental impact and drive innovation to combat it. By working with Tesco, we can help drive cross industry improvements with tangible benefits to our environment.”