IKEA, a global home furnishing retailer, declared its plans to transition to 100% renewable energy across its supply chain in three of its major markets namely India, China and Poland. It plans to assist even the local suppliers in the transition.

IKEA has around 50 suppliers in India and is one of the largest purchasing countries. This initiative would involve investing and supporting nearly 1,600 direct suppliers, saving an estimated 670,000 tonnes of emissions per year, which is equivalent to approximately 3% of the total climate footprint of the IKEA value chain.

“At IKEA, becoming people and planet positive is an integral part of how we do business at every step. With this initiative in collaboration with our valuable partners, we will save precious resources and reduce the climate footprint. We have 50 direct suppliers with more than 400.000 co-workers in the Indian supply chain,” said Marius Martinaitis, Purchasing Manager, IKEA South Asia.
IKEA suppliers today cannot generate all their renewable electricity on-site — a majority still needs to be bought from the grid. Through this program, IKEA will have a complete offer to both support suppliers to generate renewable energy on-site and enable them to purchase the remaining part from the grid.

The programme aligns with IKEA’s commitment to become climate positive by 2030. According to its statements, IKEA currently sources 51% of its energy requirements for stores, offices, warehouses, factories, etc. from renewable sources and their goal is to reach 100% renewable electricity by 2025 and also secure the remaining energy consumption, such as heating and cooling, in renewable as well, by 2030.