Target Commits to New Climate Goals & 100% Renewable Energy

Target, maintaining the momentum it generated from last week’s announcement that it will source only sustainable cotton by 2020, unveiled more environmental efforts today: the retail giant announced a new climate policy and goals to keep the company moving forward. The new set of goals was created around Science-Based Targets – guidelines that help US companies align their corporate goals with climate science – and dictate exactly where the retailer will focus its efforts.

In addition to those goals, Target says it will source 100% renewable energy in its domestic operations; the company says it will work with partners to achieve the goal in the coming years.

Five-part Focus

To make it all happen, the retailer plans to focus its efforts in five areas:

• Increasing adoption of renewable energy in its own operations, its supply chain, and on the electricity grid;
• Driving water efficiency (Target says it has already saved more than 22 million gallons of water through optimization of outdoor irrigation systems at 176 of its stores) and energy efficiency (the company points out that it is a two-time Energy Star partner of the year and was named by the Solar Energy Industries Association as the top corporate solar installer in the US in 2016*) in its own operations and in its supply chain;
• Investing in innovations supporting the transition to a lower-carbon transportation system, including vehicle electrification;
• Considering climate impacts in raw materials sourcing, particularly the impacts of land use change, and designing plans to mitigate those impacts; and
• Supporting communities most heavily impacted by climate change and building their resilience to climate change impacts like extreme weather events.

Full-steam Environmental Efforts – with Partners and the World

The above efforts will be achieved by working with partners – such as the World Wildlife Fund and others – who can advise Target in different areas like climate change, water stewardship, food waste, packaging, and sourcing raw materials.

The company also pledges to “share our learnings and progress with the rest of the world” by reporting regularly in its Corporate Responsibility Report.

* In April, Target announced that it was installing rooftop solar generation systems on five of its stores in the Denver area, part of its goal to have 500 stores with solar panels by 2020.