IKEA Group unveils new sustainability strategy: People & Planet Positive

New strategy will see IKEA Group become energy independent and help millions of people live an affordable, sustainable life at home.

BURLINGTON, ON, Oct. 23, 2012 /CNW/ - The IKEA Group today released a new, ambitious sustainability strategy, People & Planet Positive. The strategy is an integrated part of the IKEA Group long-term growth direction and builds on the Company's long history of working with sustainability by outlining a new set of goals and actions for delivery up to 2020.

People & Planet Positive has three key focus areas:

• Inspiring and enabling millions of people to live a more sustainable life at home, offering products and solutions that help customers to save money by using less energy and water and reducing waste. Examples include: converting all lighting to LED that last up to 20 years and use up to 85 per cent less electricity, offering the most energy efficient home appliances on the market at the lowest price, creating low price, functional and easy to use solutions for sorting and minimising waste and using less water at home.
• Becoming energy and resource independent, which includes producing as much renewable energy as is consumed in IKEA Group stores and buildings, building on the €1.5 billion ($1.9 billion CAD) allocated to wind and solar projects. It also includes improving the energy efficiency in IKEA Group operations by at least 20 per cent and encouraging suppliers to do the same. Continuously developing the IKEA range, making products more sustainable by ensuring all main home furnishing materials, including packaging, are renewable, recyclable or recycled.
• Taking the lead in creating a better life for the people and communities, which includes supporting the development of good places to work throughout the IKEA Group supply chain - encouraging suppliers to not only focus on compliance but also shared values. It also includes going beyond the immediate reach of the supply chain and helping to support human rights.

"We want to create a better everyday for the many people. A better life includes living more sustainably. We have been working towards that goal for many years and have already done a lot, and we are now ready to take the next big step. People & Planet Positive will help us to do that; transforming our business and having a positive impact on the world," says Mikael Ohlsson, President and CEO, IKEA Group.

One of the biggest challenges for the 21st Century is how to address resource scarcity and climate change whilst providing a great quality of life for people around the world. People & Planet Positive will help IKEA Group to play a small but significant part in meeting those challenges. In addition to contributing to the quality of life of people and communities where it operates, it will use resources with the utmost efficiency and turn waste into resources. Only renewable energy will be used in IKEA Group operations, while safe chemicals, responsible stewardship of forests, water and farmlands will be the base of its supply chain.

"We believe that sustainability should not be a luxury good - it should be affordable for everyone. With over 770 million visitors to our stores, we are excited by the opportunity to help our customers fulfil their dreams at home with beautiful products that help them save money on their household bills by reducing energy and water use, as well as reducing waste. People & Planet Positive will also enable us to take our responsibilities in the supply chain further over the coming years by, for example, only using renewable energy to power our buildings and advocating for children's rights," said Steve Howard, Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA Group.

To learn more about how the IKEA Group works with sustainability, including the IKEA Group sustainability reports, and to view the full People & Planet Positive strategy document, please visit: http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_CA/about_ikea/people_and_planet/index.html

To view the People & Planet Positive film on YouTube, please visit: www.youtube.com/IKEA

Notes to editors:
Some IKEA Group progress highlights:

• New projects over the next three years will take total investments in renewable energy to up to €1.5 billion ($1.9 billion CAD), focusing on solar and wind (since 2009). More than 250,000 solar panels have already been installed on IKEA stores and buildings across the world and IKEA Group has invested in and is committed to own and operate 126 wind turbines in five countries.
• Our objective is that 100 per cent of the wood used in IKEA products is sourced in compliance with our forestry requirements, and if it is not, we move quickly to address it. IKEA is also one of the biggest users of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood, which is still in relatively limited global supply.
• The share of more sustainable cotton used in IKEA products is currently one quarter of our total cotton use. Working with partners such as WWF has helped around 100,000 cotton farmers to halve their water consumption and chemical pesticide use, and cut the use of chemical fertilisers by one third. More sustainable cotton also contributes to significant cost reductions and better earnings for the farmers.
• Since our code of conduct for suppliers, IWAY, was introduced in 2000 we have seen more than 165,000 audited improvements in environment and working conditions in supplier factories around the world. In the past year, more than 1,000 audits, over 700 of which were unannounced, were carried out in supplier factories.
• IKEA is now the market leader in Europe on LED lighting in the home, helping millions of people to save money on their energy bills by using 85 per cent less electricity than traditional incandescent bulbs.
• IKEA has also taken a stand on chemicals, including voluntarily banning PVC from its products (since 1991) except in cables, formaldehyde emitting paints and lacquers on all products (since 1993), lead from its mirrors (since 2009), and much more.
• Donations in recent years from the IKEA Foundation include €45 million ($58 million CAD) to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR; €30 million ($39 million CAD) to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and over €11 million ($14.2 million CAD) to the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). Since 2003, the Soft Toys for Education campaign, a collaboration between IKEA Group and IKEA Foundation, has raised €47.5 million ($61 million CAD) and helped more than 8 million children receive a better education. The IKEA Foundation works with strong strategic partners applying innovative approaches to achieve large-scale results in four fundamental areas of a child's life: a place to call home; a healthy start in life; a quality education; and sustainable family income. 100 million children will benefit from programmes currently funded by IKEA Foundation.

About IKEA Group

The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. Our business idea supports this vision by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. There are currently 298 IKEA Group stores in 26 countries. IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943. The IKEA Group employs 131,000 co-workers and had 655 million visitors during FY11. For more information, please visit www.IKEA.com

SOURCE: IKEA Canada

Madeleine Löwenborg-Frick
Public Relations Manager IKEA Canada
[email protected] 
905-637-9440 x6378