Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions [Le décryptage n°4 Essec/LSA]

Remember that these Scope 3 GHG emissions result from employee travel to and from work, customer travel to points of sale, but above all from the production sold by the brands and the use/consumption of these products by customers, with a particular emphasis on products of animal origin (meat and dairy products).

Carrefour has set itself the ambitious objective of reducing its “scope 3” emissions by 29% by 2030 compared to 2019. To achieve this, the company has structured its “scope 3” climate action plan around of three priorities: the purchase of less carbon-free products and services, work on changing customer consumption habits, and downstream transport. This strategy aims to influence its supply chain and promote more sustainable practices among suppliers.

Ahold, for its part, is committed to achieving carbon neutrality across all Scopes by 2050. To achieve this, the company has defined three key priorities, which are found among all brands having initiated an approach on this Scope 3: collaborate with its suppliers and farmers, invest in the development of products with a low carbon footprint and support customers in this process.

As for transport, which is a significant component of “scope 3” emissions, representing 3 to 6% of total GHG emissions from distribution, brands are investing in fleets of electric vehicles and implementing more ecological delivery solutions. , and are concerned about emissions linked to customer journeys to stores: In France, Carrefour invites its customers to favor electric vehicles, has installed charging stations in the car parks of 211 hypermarkets, soon to be powered by 100% renewable electricity, and offers 1 hour of recharge per week to loyalty card or Pass card holders. Leclerc, too, has already installed 5,000 charging stations in its 600 hypermarkets, and aims to install 10,000 in 2025. Ahold in the USA (under the Stop & Shop brand) is committed to making these available to its customers free of charge. charging stations. It is the first brand on the East Coast to offer this free service throughout its entire network of stores, and this has a lot of value, because one of the major obstacles in the US is linked to the lack of charging infrastructure, whether you are in a rural, peri-urban or urban area.

But the big rock in the shoe is the expected role of mass distribution in offering “carbon-free” products, particularly based on vegetable proteins. We know that this supply policy (ownership, shelf share, promotion, price, promotion, fid) has a significant impact on demand and on market developments. BioCoop was, in September 2023, the first French distributor to offer total transparency, and to mark the 500 food products under its brand with the Planet-Score, which indicates, in the form of a note and a code color, the environmental impact of the product throughout its life cycle (production, transport, packaging, distribution, consumption).

After Eroski, in Spain, implemented it in December 2022 on its branded products:

This is a bit like what Walmart is doing in the USA, through a fairly comprehensive program with the promotion of hundreds of “built for better” references, under 3 variations: “Better for you”, “better for the community” and “ better for the planet”. Regarding the contribution to the reduction of GHG emissions, the “Better for the Planet” label is granted when the brand or company holds one of the thirty labels referenced by Walmart. Thus, the brand will be highlighted in store and online.

And Colruyt, in Belgium, which has evolved its loyalty program, granting more generous benefits to its customers who purchase Ecoscore A or B products.

In summary, on this chapter, few brands are unfortunately well committed even though it is the No. 1 issue when we talk about “distribution & CSR”. Additional analyzes will be found in Module 2 of the MOOC, as well as an interview with Pascal Canfin and Bertrand Swiderski.