Better Retail Better World includes a series of targets aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2020.
These include a policy to ensure that no supply chain worker should pay for a job, public disclosure of efforts to support employment of under-represented demographics and reduction of waste, greenhouse gas and de-forestation.
Aldi, Asda, Debenhams, Fenwick, House of Fraser, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Next and Sainsbury’s were among the first set of 26 retailers to sign the Better Retail Better World pledges.
Chairman of British Retail Consortium Richard Pennycook said: “These pledges means collective action on some of the most pressing challenges of the coming decades.”
“There’s a big difference between planting a few trees and recognising the need to incorporate the principles of sustainability into everyday business decisions, which is an approach that’s increasingly commonplace throughout the retail industry.”