Swedish furniture major IKEA’s partner Ingka Group has increased investment by 600 million euro (around Rs 52,00 crore) towards sustainability projects over the next 12 months. After this announcement, Ingka Group’s total investments in sustainability projects will rise up to 3.8 billion euro (around Rs 33,000 crore), it said in a statement.
The funds would be invested in companies and solutions that have a direct impact towards the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goal, said Ingka Group, which handles the retail operations of IKEA.
“Over the coming year, the company has committed to invest 600 million euro more into companies, solutions and its own operations to enable the transition to a net-zero carbon economy. This increases its overall investments into sustainability to 3.8 billion euro,” it said.
Ingka Group is committed to taking climate action, contributing to the IKEA overall commitment to reduce more greenhouse gas emissions than the IKEA value chain emits by 2030.
“We want to be part of the solution, which is why we will continue to focus our future investments to ensure a cleaner, greener and more inclusive recovery,” Juvencio Maeztu, Deputy CEO and CFO, Ingka Group said in a statement.
The company currently owns 546 wind turbines in 14 countries, two solar farms with 1.5 million solar panels, and more than 9,20,000 solar panels on the roofs of IKEA stores and warehouses.
IKEA India, part of Ingka Group, opened its first retail store in Hyderabad in August 2018, followed by online stores in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Pune in 2019 as part of its multichannel approach.
According to IKEA India CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer Peter Betzel, it is defining its roadmap to entirely run our operations through renewable energy by 2025.
“In IKEA India, we will continue to work with circularity. In the coming years, we aim for 50 percent of cardboard and plastics from our retail operations and customer take-back to be returned to IKEA supply chain, as raw material to make for new home furnishing products,” said Betzel.
It will adopt electric vehicles in its business operations to reduce carbon footprint.
“We are defining our roadmap to entirely run our operations through renewable energy by 2025. We will continue to create a more sustainable life at home in India by inspiring our customers to make informed sustainable choices to reduce their direct environmental impact,” he said.
The announcement was made at an Ingka Group’s virtual sustainability event ‘One Home, One Planet’.
Ingka Group is a strategic partner in the IKEA franchise system, operating 380 IKEA stores in 31 countries. Ingka Group has three business areas: IKEA Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centres.
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