RILA Climate Action Blueprint (2022)

There is now a global understanding of the human impact role in climate change and the need for transformational change. We are seeing the cost of inaction by way of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters that impact our daily lives, often concentrated in vulnerable communities. Continuing business as usual is not an option for a livable future – significant action is required to create a sustainable future.  

Employing approximately 15 million people and representing approximately $5.4 trillion in sales, the retail industry is a significant economic and cultural force in the US. Given the wide-ranging impacts of climate change, the retail sector’s imperative to act comes from the combined driving forces of the risk of inaction, company identity and values, regulation, stakeholder demands, and the benefits of leadership.  

At the heart of every sustainability strategy lies the need for robust, measurable data. However, many companies are often uncertain of where to begin and are intimidated by the prospect of a long and expensive journey into data collection. This is one of the most notable barriers to enabling measurable retail climate action.  

What is most important is for a company interested in climate action to start with what data they can gather, be clear in stakeholder communications and take an iterative approach to data collection.  

By following a data insights journey as outlined in this section of the Blueprint, retailers can act and begin their journey to decarbonize, regardless of whether a company has decades of data collection experience or is just getting started. 

Given the systemic impacts of the climate crisis, companies are responding to the climate emergency in several ways, including voluntary increased reporting of GHG emissions, holistic management of climate risks & opportunities, GHG target setting, and pursuit of resilient business models.   

When approaching the transition to a zero-carbon economy, there are different decarbonization levers to “pull”. Decarbonization Levers focus on emission sources from Scopes 1, 2 and 3 and are tactics and activities to commit, prioritize and abate emissions. Several emissions categories bring a considerable human engagement layer to addressing climate impacts by evaluating key stakeholders needs, including addressing how to decarbonize in a way that brings value to your customers, meets employee demand, and sets up your organization’s governance and broader actions to be consistent and reputable. 

The Blueprint provides analysis and tactics for retailers as they consider their six decarbonization levers: commitment, operations, influence, customers, employees, and governance and external advocacy.