CorpComms Magazine

The Co-operative Group has unveiled the toughest carbon reduction targets of any major business with plans to slash emissions by 35 per cent within six years.

The UK's largest mutual retailer, with about 4,800 outlets and six million members, has already slashed carbon emissions by one fifth since 2006. 

But its new Ethical Plan, in which it encourages customers to 'Join the Revolution', sees the Co-operative Group announce a pledge to reduce carrier bag usage by 75 per cent within two years, and also reduce packaging weights by a further ten per cent by next year.

The plan, which includes 47 distinct targets, also includes the most radical Fairtrade conversation programme ever taken. 'If it can be Fairtrade, it will be Fairtrade,' pledges the Co-operative. More than 90 per cent of all primary commodities sourced from the developing world will be certified to Fairtrade standards.

The Co-operative will also launch a £30 million programme, called Inspiring Young People, to support an Apprenticeship Academy that will create 2,000 apprenticeships, a Green Schools programme to reach 100,000 children every year and the creation of 200 Co-operative Schools by 2013. It will also create an advisory panel of young members, who will inform a newly appointed board champion for young people.

Chief executive Peter Marks said: 'At a time when UK society is picking up the pieces from a recession exacerbated by corporate greed and speculation, we are seeking to show there is another way. The plc model is not the only game in town. It is possible for business to embrace the efficiencies of the market economy and also the need for robust legislation to ensure that progress is sustainable and just.'

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