UK – The UK grocery retailer, Tesco has announced a four-year partnership with WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), a global conservation organisation to enhance sustainability of the UK food chain.
The partnership aims to reduce the environmental impact of the average UK shopping cart by 50 percent, improving the sustainability of food while ensuring it remains affordable for all.
Tesco and WWF will work together in addressing including climate change and biodiversity loss focusing on three key areas.
One of them is helping customers eat more sustainable diets, something that Tesco has already initiated through a partnership with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to provide delicious, healthier and affordable food options for the nation.
WWF will help Tesco eliminate deforestation from Tesco products and ingredients sourced from outside the UK including soy, timber, cattle and palm products.
According to the two partners, they’ll British farmers in producing food while preserving natural resources.
Thirdly, the partnership will work to eliminate food and packaging waste from the sector.
“Our flagship Living Planet Report 2018 recently revealed that the world is under threat like never before, we’re destroying forests, choking the oceans with plastic, decimating wildlife and causing devastating changes to our climate.
And it’s the demand for food that poses one of the biggest dangers to our planet,” said WWF UK CEO Tanya Steele.
“It’s the leading cause of deforestation, destroying countless habitats and threatening wildlife to the point of extinction.
We have the power to not only stop, but to reverse the damage, if we act now.
That is why we are delighted to be partnering with Tesco, to help create a food system that doesn’t cost the Earth.”
The new partnership will enable Tesco deliver existing sustainability commitments based on the Little Helps Plan, which encompasses people, health, places and sustainable sourcing.
Other key commitments in the plan include helping halve global food waste, farm to fork by 2030, recyclable packaging and to become a zero carbon business by 2050.
“Our Little Helps Plan illustrates what we are doing to address the most significant environmental and social challenges facing our shoppers, colleagues, suppliers, and communities.
I’m pleased we’re making progress, but we want to go further to achieve our goal of providing customers with affordable, healthy, sustainable food,” said Dave Lewis, Tesco Group CEO.
