We act responsibly and proactively throughout the entire value chain to minimise the carbon footprint of our activities. Among other actions, we endeavour to reduce our energy and water consumption and encourage our suppliers to follow good agricultural practices and make a commitment to fight deforestation.
In 2020, the Jerónimo Martins Group began implementing TCFD recommendations to enhance identifying and quantifying financial risks and opportunities associated with climate change. The Group recognises that climate change is one of the significant environmental, social and financial risks that organisations currently face and that adaptation and mitigation measures may represent opportunities for differentiation and to contribute to strengthening the resilience of its Companies and businesses.
Our carbon footprint (scopes 1 and 2) decreased 11.7% in 2021 (compared to 2020), mainly due to a reduction in emission factors associated with energy consumption in Poland. With this result, the Group reduced carbon emissions (scopes 1 and 2) by 48% for every 1,000 euros of sales, thus meeting the goal of decreasing emissions by at least 40% compared to 2017. In absolute terms, the reduction was 35% from 2017 levels.
By being committed to efficient resource management, we can optimise our consumption and implement initiatives to fight climate change.
In the projects for building and remodelling our infrastructures, we strive to implement renewable energy production systems, energy control and management systems, and efficient cooling and lighting technologies. We also invest in water-saving systems, such as flow regulators, taps with timers, and rainwater harvesting for irrigation systems and wash equipment.
Between 2016 and 2021, we invested 215 million euros in implementing these projects and managed to avoid the emission of 400,000 tonnes of CO2e, which we recovered in less than five years.
Raising awareness among employees at Pingo Doce and Recheio stores through the Teams for the Management of Water and Energy Consumption has enabled us to reduce water consumption by 480,000 m3 and electricity consumption by 60.8 million kWh since 2011, corresponding to an accumulated savings of 5.2 million euros.
The Let’s Go Green project, created in 2015 for office buildings in Portugal, aims to encourage employees to adopt good practices in the use of energy, water, and paper and recycle. It has already been implemented at the head offices of Biedronka and Ara.
We invest in renewable energy systems, such as passive underground cooling/heating, solar collectors for heating water, lamp posts fed by photovoltaic panels, and photovoltaic panels for self-consumption in our infrastructures. In 2021, investment in renewable energy resulted in the production of around 36,700 GJ, 34% more than in the previous year.
Since July 2018, the electricity purchased and required for our banners’ operations in Portugal has come from renewable sources. In total, 36% of the energy consumed by the Group comes from renewable sources.
In an activity such as distribution, in which logistics processes are decisive, we seek to reduce the environmental impacts associated with transporting the products we sell at our stores.
The backhauling programme includes a return route from the stores to our distribution centres to collect goods from our suppliers. Between 2011 and 2021, the use of this route helped us avoid 109.6 million km in travel and the emission of 100,500 tonnes of CO2e.
The fronthauling project has our suppliers stopping by our stores to deliver goods on their return route to their facilities after delivering products to our distribution centres. In 2021, we shaved off around 140,000 km and avoided the emission of 124 tonnes of CO2e.
In Colombia, the project to transport non-palletised goods between our suppliers’ facilities and our distribution centres helped shave off 1.1 million km in 2021 (the equivalent of 1,878 tonnes of CO2e). Ara has extended its by-truck project, which uses trailers to transport goods between distribution centres and the most distant stores, to all the regions where it operates, thus avoiding 2.6 million km and the emission of 2,000 tonnes of CO2e.
The Group aims to reduce CO2e emissions by 5% (for every thousand pallets transported) between 2020 and 2023. In 2021, the reduction was 3.7%.
We implement several initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to refrigeration gases, such as:
Whenever possible, new stores and those that undergo significant refurbishments use equipment with low Global Warming Potential (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and 100% natural refrigerants (industrial refrigeration installations).
Information on the Group’s carbon footprint, water use (including water withdrawal, reclaimed water and discharges) and energy consumption and the respective variations were confirmed by an external and independent entity for the Group’s 2021 Annual Report.
