Ingka Group, which owns most IKEA stores worldwide, accelerates efforts to power entire value chain with its own renewables capacity
IKEA's largest global franchise owner has announced plans to inject an additional €4bn into scaling up the deployment of renewable power projects by the end of the decade, with a particular focus on expanding its wind and solar power capacity into new countries in order to power its retail stores and value chain.
Ingka Group, which operates 389 IKEA stores across 32 countries, has already invested €2.5bn in onsite renewables over the past decade. It this week announced it is to ramp up its green investment plan, assigning an additional €4bn to the programme through to 2030 in a move that would edge it closer towards powering its entire value chain with 100 per cent renewable power.
In total, the company now owns almost 550 wind turbines, 10 solar parks, and 935,000 solar panels, amounting to a total 1.7GW of renewable power capacity, having earlier this month announced the acquisition of a 48 per cent stake in eight solar parks totalling 160MW in Russia.
As well as wind and solar power, the additional €4bn announced on Wednesday is to be invested in energy storage projects, energy efficiency efforts, electric vehicle charging points, and hydrogen powered delivery vans, according to Ingka Group.
The holding company's CEO Jesper Brodin said the need to tackle climate change made the 2020s "the most important decade in the history of mankind", and that the "costs of inaction is just too high and brings substantial risks to our business and humanity".
"We know that with the right actions and investments we can be part of the solution and reduce the impact on the home we share - our planet - while future proofing our business," he said. "For us, it is good business to be a good business."
The announcement forms part of IKEA's broader goal to become a 'climate positive' business by reducing more greenhouse gas emissions than are emitted across the furniture retail giant's entire value chain by 2030, while delivering science-based CO2 reductions and investing in natural carbon storage projects.
"Using renewable energy across our operations and value chain is a significant part of delivering on our science-based targets and commitment to the Paris Agreement," said Pia Heidenmark Cook, Ingka Group's chief sustainability officer. "We have already come a long way, and in this critical decade we need to come together to accelerate a just transition to a society powered by renewable energy."
Meanwhile, the IKEA Foundation - which is funded by the Ingka Foundation that in turn owns the Ingka Group - has this week separately pledged to invest an additional €1bn on climate programmes over the next five years in a bid to drive down greenhouse gas emissions.
The funding is being funnelled towards renewable energy initiatives, such as replacing polluting sources of energy with clean alternatives and providing access to energy for communities, as part of an approach IKEA Foundation said would unlock further funding to help accelerate the energy transition.
The new commitment comes in addition to the €500m the IKEA Foundation had already pledged to spend on climate mitigation and adaptation programmes over the next five years, following its €368m funding for climate programmes between 2014 and 2020.
Per Heggenes, CEO of the IKEA Foundation, said the aim was to support programmes that could deliver decarbonisation fast and efficiently, and that he hoped the renewed commitment would "inspire others to step up their ambition to safeguard our environment, while improving livelihoods at the same time".
"We need everyone to play their part if we are to change course towards bright futures on a liveable planet," he added.