We act responsibility 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 the identification and quantification of financial risks and opportunities associated with climate change. In 2022 we took a step further with our perishables and private brand suppliers to increase supply chain resilience and assess business opportunities, in particular those related to the production of new crops or to increasing yield.
We recognise that climate change is one of the major 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 our Companies and of our businesses.
Our carbon footprint (scopes 1 and 2) grew 2.2% in 2022, compared to 2021, due mainly to the growth of our activities in Colombia and Poland, and an increase in energy consumption, heating services and fuel. Our goal is to reduce (scope 1 and 2) carbon emissions by at least 40% per €1,000 in sales, compared to 2017. In 2022, we reduced emissions by 41%. This reduction was 8.7% in absolute terms, compared to 2017, less than that calculated in 2021 due to a review of several emission factors (e.g. electricity in Poland) and the inclusion of emissions from franchising stores and other similar models relating to scope 1 and 2 emissions.
In 2022, we disclosed the CO2e emissions associated with all scope 3 categories.
See the Group’s carbon footprint:
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 to wash equipment.
Between 2017 and 2022, we invested 249 million euros to implement these projects, an amount that we have recovered in less than four years and that has helped avoid the emission of 531,000 tonnes of CO2e.
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 424,000 m3 and electricity consumption by 14.5 million kWh since 2011, corresponding to an accumulated savings of 3.1 million euros. In 2022, the actions of these teams were included in the “United for the Environment” initiative, launched by Pingo Doce.
Biedronka launched its “Good energy” initiative, a project aimed at raising awareness among store employees and which includes the development of a good practice handbook to save energy, interactive training for all store employees, the provision of an energy monitoring report, and the creation of a dedicated chatbot to facilitate daily store operations.
The Let’s Go Green project aims at encouraging employees to adopt good practices in the use of energy, water and paper and to recycle. Launched in 2015 for office buildings in Portugal, the project has since been implemented at the head offices of Biedronka and Ara.
We invest in renewable energy systems, such as passive underground cooling/heating, the use of solar collectors for heating water, lamp posts fed by photovoltaic panels, and photovoltaic panels for self-consumption at our infrastructures. In 2022, the investment in renewable energy resulted in the production of around 52,000 GJ, 43% more than in the previous year.
Since July 2018, the electricity purchased and required for our operations in Portugal has come from renewable sources. In total, 38% of the energy consumed by the Group comes from renewable sources.
In 2022, Biedronka increased the number of establishments with solar photovoltaic energy production units from 8 to 118 and expects 500 new solar photovoltaic production units for self-consumption to enter operation by the end of Q1 2023.
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 2022, the use of this route helped us avoid approximately 134 million km in travel and the emission of 122,000 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 2022, we shaved off around 153,000 km and avoided the emission of 135 tonnes of CO2e.
In Colombia, the project to transport non-palletised goods between our suppliers’ facilities and our distribution centres helped shave off 947,000 km in 2022 (the equivalent of 1,548 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 3 million km and the emission of 2,360 tonnes of CO2e in 2022.
Our goal is to reduce CO2e emissions by 5% (for every thousand pallets transported) between 2020 and 2023. In 2022, the reduction was 2.6%.
Cold chains and air conditioning play a vital role in the quality, safety and preservation of food products, and is essential in fighting food waste. We follow two strategies to reduce carbon emissions linked to the refrigerants used in these systems:
We also highlight our:
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 2022 Annual Report.
