REWE and Penny presented the „Climate Protection Promotion Programme“ for the first time at the Green Week. A budget worth millions is to be used to co-finance projects by own-brand suppliers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their supply chain.
„Whether in agriculture, animal husbandry, processing, packaging or transporting food - greenhouse gas emissions are generated everywhere. However, measures to reduce these are complex and cost-intensive. This is where the Climate protection funding programme and supports projects run by REWE and Penny's own-brand suppliers,“ says Hans-Jürgen Moog, the REWE Group Management Board member responsible for merchandise and purchasing. „The spectrum of sponsorship projects ranges from regenerative agriculture to measures that contribute to contribute to a reduction in food losses within the value chain. It is not important whether the measures are already known or innovative. However, a prerequisite for funding is that the measures always lead to a recognisable, additional and permanent reduction in emissions.“
98 per cent of emissions outside the influence of REWE Group
In Germany, REWE and Penny have committed to setting short and long-term company-wide reduction targets in line with the science-based net-zero standard of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The SBTi membership and the associated net-zero target of REWE Group by 2050 provided the impetus for the climate protection support programme that has now been initiated. This is because 98 per cent of REWE and Penny's greenhouse gas emissions in Germany are generated in the upstream value chains, for example in animal husbandry, the cultivation or harvesting of food, its processing and transport. A decisive lever for achieving the climate targets therefore lies with REWE Group's own-brand suppliers and their upstream suppliers, including local farmers. The aim is to, with all strategic own-brand suppliers by the end of 2024, which are responsible for 75 per cent of product-related emissions, to agree climate targets in line with the SBTi. This is precisely where the climate protection funding programme comes in with its investment incentive. The initiative also strengthens the Close cooperation along the supply chain in terms of climate protection and also supports agriculture in becoming „climate-ready“ and mitigating the possible consequences of climate change on its yields.
Measures by private label suppliers are now eligible for funding of REWE and Penny, which contribute to a measurable and creditable reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the supply chains, for example in the areas of arable and crop farming, animal husbandry and processing, Packaging and transport. The submitted project ideas will undergo a corresponding review and evaluation, on the basis of which a decision will be made on possible co-financing. „With the climate protection funding programme, REWE Group is taking the next step towards achieving its climate targets and also wants to help shape the transformation of sustainable German agriculture. We know that we can only take this path together with our suppliers and are looking forward to exciting projects,“ emphasises Moog.
Source: REWE Group
