(Credit: Pixabay)United Natural Foods, one of the largest wholesale grocery distributors in North America, recently announced that it will set science-based emissions reduction targets covering its own operations and value chain. UNFI expects its targets will align with the goals of the Paris Agreement, to limit global temperature rise to well-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C for the best chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. UNFI is the first North American wholesale grocery distributor to commit to such a target.
UNFI’s targets — which are expected to be submitted for approval to the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) within the next year — are a core element of the company’s forthcoming 2030 ESG agenda, which includes commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase resilience through operational excellence and investments in clean energy.
Emissions has become a hot topic for businesses around the world. Just last month, for example, the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) launched its methodology enabling banks to measure and disclose the emissions associated with their financed activities.
More than 83 banks globally have joined PCAF, creating a global standard for measuring and disclosing financed emissions. As pressure has mounted on the financial sector to reduce its contribution to climate catastrophe, investors have focused on the need for banks to use a standardized approach to measure and transparently disclose their financed emissions as a critical step to reducing those emissions. As You Sow, and a range of investors, filed climate resolutions last year with five of the largest US banks and asked them to join PCAF and begin measuring and disclosing their financed emissions. Over the summer of 2020, major US banks Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Citigroup joined in committing to PCAF in advance of its launch.
