Prioritising people and the planet

Martin Moodie: Jane, what does the term sustainability actually embrace in Walmart’s eyes and where are you in terms of your commitment to it?

Jane Ewing: We have been on a journey for over 15 years. We source over US$11 billion of product from diverse suppliers, we divert over 80% of our waste from landfills and incineration around the world. We have over 30% of our operations now powered with renewable energy, and we have upgraded our science-based emissions reduction target to the highest level. We have made progress but there is more to be done. We see every day the impact of what we as humanity have been doing on the environment, heavy farming, fishing, some of the encroachment of civilization on animal habitats and rainforests. This balance of our ecosystems has become more unsustainable, so we really have to take action. As a society we are not doing enough and we have got to go beyond what we have done until now. By setting us on this path to becoming a regenerative company, we are committed to restoring, renewing and replenishing, in addition to conserving. That means how we adopt regenerative practices in agriculture in the products we buy, advancing prosperity and equity for our customers and our associates and all people who participate along the supply chain. It means eliminating waste, not just in our stores but all along the product chain.

Your reporting as a company is guided by a series of key frameworks and global standards. But how does that translate into how Walmart does business from the beginning of the supply chain to the end?

All of these various frameworks and organisations are important, and due to the complexity of global supply chains and then this systemic nature of issues like climate change, all means that progress requires collaboration. It reminds me of the Trinity, Martin, with different groups working together. For us it’s about engaging all of our suppliers, NGOs, our customers and governments, among others. In practice, what we do is try and improve the sustainability of a product’s supply chain by listening to our customers and experts and other key stakeholders to set aspirations like emissions reduction or plastic reduction or economic inclusion. And then, we prioritise these improvements to the product supply chain, so it could be farming practices or production traceability. The biggest challenge has been around what we call Scope Three emissions, so those emissions that are actually in our supply chain. So we’re trying to translate that action into real impact through an initiative called Project Gigaton and the goal is to avoid a gigaton’s worth of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. We are working to make this and then other supply chain improvements as simple and straightforward as possible to allow for more participation. We aim to really inspire suppliers to take action, irrespective of where they are on their journey, because this stuff can be complex. In terms of our customers, they want to feel good about shopping with us, and they want to ensure trust and transparency. They want action on environmental and social issues and it’s up to us to listen and do the right thing for them, but it’s also good business.

Within the business, as you set your key goals and targets, how do you both self check and also monitor the practices of a huge array of suppliers?

First, we estimate our direct, indirect and partial supply chain emissions by using the greenhouse gas protocol. We also complete the Climate Disclosure Project questionnaire and have made the A list for that. We have the Project Gigaton initiative to work with our suppliers and we try and engage them at whatever stage they are on the journey. Some are setting goals in all of these different areas, and then there are others that are just starting out on that journey and we try and support and help them. That also allows us to hold each other accountable. We have also got the target of zero emissions in our operations by 2040 – it’s not net zero, it’s zero and that is a big challenge with over 10,000 operations around the world. Also, nature is just such a critical component of having a sustainable company in a sustainable world, so we have goals to protect, manage or restore at least 50 million acres of land and a million square miles of ocean by 2030. That is a big one that we are really excited about. We have zero waste goals too, alongside making responsible recruitment standard practice.