Germany-headquartered food retail company Lidl has partnered with conservation organisation WWF to enhance biodiversity protection throughout its supply chain across 31 countries.
The initiative, which will run over five years, seeks to tackle upstream biodiversity loss, including deforestation and depleted fishing grounds, as well as get Lidl’s suppliers to establish robust science-based targets.
“In order to halt and reverse what is the biggest crisis facing humanity today, we need bold and urgent actions towards changing our food and energy systems, and the food and retail sector has a big role to play in driving this change,” said Kirsten Schuijt, director general of WWF International.
“As one of the largest retailers, Lidl has enormous international leverage to drive sustainable change in the food and retail industry. WWF is proud to accompany Lidl on this journey on which we will both support and challenge the retailer.”
Under the partnership, WWF will assist Lidl in promoting biodiversity conservation as well as reducing food waste, improving water management, and sustainably sourcing materials such as palm oil, soy, cocoa, tea, coffee, wood, and paper products.
THE UK PLEDGE
The announcement came after Lidl signed up to the WWF’s Retailers’ Commitment for Nature last year, pledging to halve the environmental impact of the average UK shopping basket by 2030.
First announced in 2018 and developed in partnership with UK-based retailer Tesco, WWF’s initiative currently counts five other signatories – Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, and Aldi.
“In our role as one of the largest food retailers, we are aware of our responsibility and our influence,” said Christoph Pohl, chief purchasing officer at Lidl.
“With the support and expertise of WWF, we will now take our commitment to sustainability to the next level,” he added.
Earlier this year, Lidl was among some of the biggest European supermarket chains criticised by the non-profit organisation Foodwatch for their lack of a coherent strategy to reduce the use of pesticides in grains, food, and vegetables.
Both Lidl and Tesco were at the centre of an investigation carried out in 2020 by Greenpeace and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, revealing that chicken sold in the UK were linked to deforestation and fires across Brazil’s Cerrado region.
According to the WWF, food production is responsible for 60% of nature loss worldwide and contributes over a third of total greenhouse gas emissions – nearly 19 times that of the commercial airline industry.
By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com
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