Ingka Group exceeds goal to generate more renewable energy

“FY20 was a truly exceptional year, in so many ways. It has been incredible to see over 166,000 entrepreneurs come together, putting people at the heart of everything we do, as well as quickly adapt to meet the new needs of our customers. In a time when home has never been more important, we made IKEA more accessible by safely opening 26 new customer meeting points in cities like Helsinki, Seoul and Tokyo. And we accelerated our omnichannel transformation, allowing us to end the year with solid results, despite the fact that 75% of our stores were closed for almost two months”, says Jesper Brodin, CEO Ingka Group.

Ingka Group is more determined than ever to be part of solving the climate crisis and recovering and shaping a new normal that’s better for people and planet for generations to come. The company will accelerate efforts towards the IKEA ambition of becoming climate positive by 2030. This includes further investments of EUR 600 million during FY21, increasing overall investments into sustainability to EUR 3.8 billion.

“At Ingka Group, we stay committed to our sustainability ambitions and we are proud to say that for the first time we have generated more renewable energy than we consumed in our own operations, landing at 132 % globally, thanks to our investments in solar and wind technology”, says Karol Gobczyński, Climate & Energy Leader, Ingka Group.

Other highlights from the year include:

• We have more than 920,000 solar panels on the roofs of IKEA stores and warehouses
• We acquired a stake in 2 solar parks in the USA, and an 80% stake in 7 Romanian wind farms. We now own 547 wind turbines and 2 solar farms in 14 countries
• We extended our Clean Energy Services to 11 markets and our Home solar offer in 9 markets enables customers to save an average of EUR 400 per year. In total 63,000 tons of CO2 are avoided,
• We inspired 97,400 customers and co-workers to reduce energy, water and waste through our ‘Better Living app’*
• We rolled out HUVUDROLL plant balls with only 4% of the carbon footprint of the iconic IKEA meatball
• We continued to explore how to be more circular, turning the first As-Is areas into Circular Hubs – focusing on take back services and sustainability engagement with local communities.  France, UK and China were among the first, all markets will follow in FY21

During the year, Ingka Group stayed true to the IKEA vision and stood by the side of the many people. This included making EUR 26 million in emergency relief available to support communities along our value chain impacted by the pandemic. Furthermore, the company has provided support to IKEA co-workers, by securing income stability, extending parental leave and offering flexible work arrangements. As business recovered faster than expected, Ingka Group also decided to return the government support it had received to cover co-workers’ wages in the spring.

To some extent store closures and business disruption due to the pandemic meant that many of the planned activities had to be postponed, as focused had to be turned elsewhere, providing support in local communities. The roll-out of electric vehicles was slower than expected and we didn’t reach our goal to reduce food waste by 50 %. However, we remain committed to build back for a future that is clean, green and more just and will continue working towards our goals.

“We started our fiscal year in September 2020 with strong ambitions for people and planet, and I am proud to say that despite the difficulties of this year, we came through more committed to our sustainability goals than ever. Additionally, our view on the power of togetherness is further strengthened; we need to drive the movement of building back better together”, says Pia Heidenmark Cook, Chief Sustainability Officer, Ingka Group.

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*The ‘Better Living app’ can be downloaded here for Apple and here for Android.
The Ingka Group Annual Summary & Sustainability Report is available here.