Tesco PLC, Britain's largest supermarket chain, unveiled a £500 million (US$986.2 million) strategy on Friday to cut carbon emissions and persuade its customers to buy environmentally friendly products.
Tesco said it planned to begin labeling food with details of their carbon footprint, showing consumers the amount of carbon emitted during the production, transport and consumption of each of the 70,000 different products it sells. It will also put airplane symbols on all goods imported into the country by air under the plan that makes it the latest major retailer to boost its green credentials.
Marks & Spencer Group PLC, Britain's largest clothing retailer, announced earlier this week that it plans to become carbon-neutral by 2012. Its own £200 million plan also aims to cut all landfill rubbish and extend sustainable sourcing.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's biggest retailer, recently said it planned to cut packaging by 5 percent over five years.
"The market is ready. Customers tell us they want our help to do more in the fight against climate change," Tesco chief executive Terry Leahy said. "We have to make sustainability a significant mainstream driver of consumption."
A government-sponsored review by former World Bank chief economist Nicolas Stern last year warned that urgent action was needed to tackle global warming.
The new green plans include limiting the amount of produce freighted by air to 1 percent from the current 3 percent and cutting emissions from existing stores worldwide by at least 50 percent by 2020.
Tesco said that its current direct carbon footprint in Britain was about 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, with mass refrigeration of produce accounting for roughly a third of emissions.
The grocer also intends to reward shoppers who buy organic, Fairtrade and biodegradable goods with green loyalty points.
Meanwhile, 10 major US corporations are joining environmental groups to press US President George W. Bush and Congress to address climate change more rapidly.
The coalition, including Alcoa Inc, General Electric Co, DuPont Co and Duke Energy Corp, plans to publicize its recommendations tomorrow, the Natural Resources Defense Council said.
The group, which is known as the US Climate Action Partnership, also includes Caterpillar Inc, PG&E, the FPL Group FPL, PNM Resources Inc, BP America Inc and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
"Caterpillar believes in the need for a market-based approach to the aggressive development of current and future clean technologies that reduce emissions and sustain the environment," chief executive Jim Owens said in a statement.
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