Climate protection

Driven by Conviction, Community and Collaboration.

We are food experts with more than 55 years of experience, operating in 31 countries across the world, and employing around 87,000 people. Here we show you how we tackle climate change.

Climate neutrality by 2040

In 2021, we already tightened our existing climate target: By 2040, we want to make our global business operations carbon neutral, mainly through our own initiatives. In financial year 2021/22, we have extended our climate protection target for 2040 to include emissions from our own logistics (transport and FSD). We also want to completely avoid and neutralise these emissions by 2040. With the 36.6% savings we have achieved so far compared to the baseline year 2011, we are on the right track. From October 2021 to September 2022, METRO generated 242 kg of CO₂-equivalents per square metre of selling and delivery space. This compares to 241 kg in the same period last year.

METRO is driving forward an ambitious package of measures supported by investments in technology and innovation. In line with best practice, we are aiming to work on obtaining SBTi valudation for our 2040 climate neutrality target in the future.

To become climate neutral, METRO is investing in:

• Energy efficiency and renewable energies
• Switching to natural refrigerants in cooling
• the phase-our of fossil heat
• the expansion of photovoltaic systems
• the electrification of the company car fleet
• Zero emission model in new store construction.

In order to set an example for climate protection at the METRO Campus Düsseldorf and to make our contribution to the climate neutrality of the city of Düsseldorf, we signed the climate protection agreement ‘Düsseldorfer Klimapakt mit der Wirtschaft’ (Düsseldorf Climate Pact with Business) in financial year 2021/22, making us an official climate partner of the state capital Düsseldorf.

In 2019, METRO expanded the climate target to the supply chain and as the first German wholesale company set a recognised science-based target for itself. In it, METRO AG undertakes to reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO₂ emissions by 60% per square metre of selling and delivery space by 2030 compared to 2011. A reduction of 33.5% has been achieved in this area since 2011. Furthermore, METRO AG is committed to reducing absolute Scope 3 CO₂ emissions (supply chain) by 15% by 2030 compared to 2018. Our goals for Scope 1 and Scope 2 are thus in line with the reductions required to keep global warming well below 2 °C by 2100 compared to pre-industrial levels.

METRO conducted an initial scenario analyses (as recommended by Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and identified the following risks in our business operations as well as in our supply chain:

• Physical risks resulting from extreme weather events and water stress (scarcity or flooding)
• Risks from business disruptions due to extreme weather events and risks caused by declining economic power for our customers’ businesses and thus for our sales
• Transition risks such as rising prices for CO₂ emissions (with short-term impact on costs and product prices)
• Risks of resource scarcity and associated price increases (e.g. for agricultural products over the next 5 to 10 years)
• Risks caused by investments in new technologies (carbon-neutral cooling units planned worldwide until 2030) and investments in the generation of renewable energies (extensive installation of solar systems planned until 2030) 

We consider these risks in our medium-term risk review and assess risks for revenues and costs based on rising prices and decreasing availability of resources, whereby we also include social impacts.

METRO wants to minimise waste - food and solid waste. It is important to us to think in life cycles and promote innovative manufacturing and recycling technologies. We advise our customers on how to dispose of products and packaging. This means raising awareness of conserving resources, providing information about avoiding waste, and incentivising and enabling correct disposal

Amount of solid waste and recycling rate
(in kg per m² of selling and delivery space and in %)

In September 2017, METRO AG joined the Electric Vehicle 100 (EV100) initiative with other international companies. The aim of this initiative is to promote electric mobility. The initiative was founded by the Climate Group, an international association of regions and companies committed to an active climate policy. By joining the EV100 initiative, METRO has committed itself to advancing the expansion of charging infrastructure, including the parking lots of local METRO stores to 1,000 charging points till 2030. The wholesale specialist also promotes electric mobility in its own fleet of vehicles to reach nearly 100% availability of electrical or high-quality hybrid vehicles by 2030.

One of the drivers of climate change is deforestation – the loss of natural forest and vegetation as a result of conversion to agricultural or other non-forest land use for instance. Additionally, deforestation is often linked to other ecological and social issues like biodiversity loss and a breach of social standards of local people, if the original inhabitants of the forests are forced to leave their homes.

Deforestation is an important topic for the food sector as it is mainly driven by the production of soy, palm oil, meat, cocoa as well as paper and wood.METRO trades products that are made of or contain these commodities. As a wholesaler and as a part of the supply chain of products we source, we want to transform the way how these commodities are sourced, and we want to take action to end deforestation. This also contributes to the sustainability of our customers’ business as we enable our customers to make more sustainable choices when they buy with us.

We acknowledge the global frameworks of the Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations Global Compact, and our approach towards deforestation-free supply chains builds on collaboration in the spirit of Sustainable Development Goal 17. We have set commitments individually in dedicated sourcing policies on soy, palm oil, paper & wood and on meat, and we work on best practices in cocoa, but we believe that because of the complexity and interdependency of supply chains, only common, collaborative initiatives can lead to sustainable effects and that only then our lever is equally effective. This is why we collaborate with other actors along the supply chains of commodities like soy, palm oil, meat, cocoa, paper and wood, as well as with other wholesalers and retailers, and representatives of governments and NGOs.

Important elements of our collaborative initiatives are our memberships, actions and commitments around zero deforestation within the Consumer Goods Forum and its Coalition of Action, the Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA) of the World Economic Forum, the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS), the Soy Transparency Coalition (STC), the Retail Cocoa Collaboration (RCC), the Palm Oil Transparency Coalition (POTC), and the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) as well as our Statement of Support for the Cerrado Manifesto and certification systems such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC ©) or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). By means of these networks, best practices can be shared, and greater transparency of supply chains is supported.

Action is needed on various levels within the relevant supply chains: working with farmers, producers, traders, suppliers, and manufacturers to enable them to meet the requirements are important steps to reach deforestation free supply chains, and so are certification schemes. But we also need to constantly look at the specific landscape areas where those actors operate and at the environmental, social, economic, and governmental circumstances of that area, otherwise actions will not bring the wished-for long-term success.

In order to check if what we do is meeting the expectations of the market, we openly disclose our activities, for example in the CDP Forest questionnaire and within the Consumer Goods Forum Forest Positive Coalition, in addition we learn from the assessment of independent third parties and talks with NGOs.

On this page you will find the 4 Metro policies on sustainable sourcing that are relevant to deforestation: soy, palm, paper & wood, and meat. To implement these policies, we work in collaboration with our suppliers and their supply chains, both as an individual company, and, as stated, in various collaborations, especially in the Consumer Goods Forum Forest Positive Coalition.

METRO also participates in CDP Forests index. In 2 evaluated categories in the area of forests, METRO is better than the industry average (palm oil and soy): palm oil was rated B, paper and soy B-, cattle C. See our CDP Forests 2022 submission below.