Ingka Group, the parent company of Swedish furniture giant IKEA, yesterday announced a commitment of EUR 1.5 billion (USD $1.6 billion) to decarbonize the heating and cooling sources of its stores with the objective of accelerating this transition away from fossil fuels. This investment is critical to the ingenuity that will make Ingka Group jump forward in ambitious climate goals operational footprint is expected to decrease by 85% by 2030. It is a part of the overall strategy for the group in its efforts at decarbonizing operations and value chains but to address one of the largest sources of emissions.
Heating and cooling solutions make up the majority of Ingka Group’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions: those directly caused by its business operations. Ingka Group reported in its most recent sustainability report that it is still not meeting its ambition to equip all its properties with renewable heating and cooling technologies by 2030. However, the company has developed activity plans to bridge the gap and speed up things.
Transitioning to renewable heating and cooling is one of the critical enablers on our journey toward decarbonization, said Ingka Group’s Chief Sustainability Officer Karen Pflug. “It’s complex and pricey. This investment will help us go further and faster with our plans – and we know it will pay off in the long term,” added Pflug.
The new investment will finance improvements to energy efficiency