John Lewis Partnership wants to significantly reduce its impact on the environment, reveals its ‘plan for nature’

“Time to go back to our roots”

John Lewis Partnerships’ plan for nature is an attempt by the corporation to reduce the environmental impact of its commercial operations and become bolder in its attempts to both protect and restore nature. In their words, leveraging its heritage, the partnership wants to go ‘back to its roots’ where its founder, John Spedan Lewis, was a ‘passionate advocate for protecting the environment and wildlife’. The company argues action is needed, referencing the IPCC’s (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) warning in April this year that without immediate and severe emissions reductions across all sectors and nations, limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels would be impossible[i].

A plan for nature and a push for net zero

The company has drawn up ‘a plan for nature’, which it hopes will be implemented not only within its immediate business operations but also across its supply chain. Key aspects of the plan see aspirations to have raw materials in John Lewis’ own brand products drawn from sustainable or recyclable sources by 2025, alongside proposals for all John Lewis product categories to have a ‘buy back’ or ‘take back’ option to address waste associated with ‘end of life’ of products. By 2030, John Lewis aims to have halved food waste in its operations and that of its supply chains; it also wants to assist in halving household food waste within the UK. Finally, by 2035, the company will see all GHG (Greenhouse gas) emissions from their operations become net zero, along with the GHG emissions from their UK farms supply base. This follows supermarket and competitor Morrisons, who last year pledged to only use farms certified as net-zero when sourcing products and ingredients from British suppliers by 2030. John Lewis Partnership has also stated its intent to become the first British business to set verified, science-based targets for nature[ii]. This follows on from the SBTis recent announcement of standardised methods for setting targets to combat emissions from land-based activities.

The partnership believes that its ‘plan for nature’ will sit well with consumers, referencing research the brand undertook in August 2022. The study found that 77% of respondents said they want the government to continue taking action to protect and restore nature and biodiversity across the UK. Furthermore, 67% of British shoppers said they would like retailers to work more closely to solve the most important environmental challenges we face.

The key John Lewis Partnership commitments, as outlined in their press release, are as follows:

Invest £2m to fund ecosystem protection and regeneration projects in the UK and India through a new and exclusive partnership with WWF.
Commit to zero deforestation in the sourcing of key commodities across Waitrose and John Lewis own-brand product supply chains.
Ensure all key raw materials in our own-brand products will be from more sustainable or recycled sources by 2025.
Fund sustainable water management programmes in three key fresh-produce sourcing areas.
Incorporate natural elements and design principles into all key new build and renovation projects, including Build to Rent projects that the Partnership is involved in.
We will reduce our GHG emissions across our farm at Leckford with the aim to be net zero well ahead of our 2035 commitment.
Develop more rental, resale and return opportunities, with an ambition to offer more sustainable ownership options for our customers across key areas, including fashion, home and technology.[iii]

Marija Rompani, Director of Ethics & Sustainability, John Lewis Partnership, said: “The UK currently languishes in the bottom 10% of global countries for its abundance of nature. That’s unacceptable, and given the tiny window in which we have to get this right, delaying action is simply not an option.”

She added: “This is why we’re going back to our roots and focusing our efforts on protecting and restoring nature. Whether it’s eliminating fossil fuel use across our transport operations, investing millions in conservation projects in regions where we source our products, or helping our farmers make the transition to net zero, we are acting where we can make the biggest impact. And our principles will apply to everything we sell, including our entry level Essential Waitrose and John Lewis Anyday ranges - ensuring products made with sustainable values are accessible to all our customers.”[iv]

John Lewis’ competitors will undoubtedly be watching progress with interest, and it is likely that the company’s statement of intent to use targets for nature will see other retailers in the UK setting out their stalls on how they hope to implement the recent FLAG announcement. All of the major UK supermarkets have pledged to reach net zero by 2040[v], and additionally, five UK supermarkets pledged to the ‘Retailers Commitment for Nature’ from WWF at COP26. These supermarkets were Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, the Co-op and M&S- who, by pledging, are now committed to halving the nature and climate impact of food systems by 2030[vi].