The Co-op’s new ethical plan sets some tough targets, which the group says are a natural extension of its decades-long leadership in sustainability
The UK’s Co-operative Group says its new Ethical Operating Plan will raise the bar on environmental, ethical finance, global poverty, animal welfare, social fairness, and health and community performance.
Containing 47 targets, the three-year rolling programme aims to more than treble Co-operative Group membership to 20 million by 2020, to increase financial support for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects from £400m to £1bn by 2013, and to introduce the world’s first ethically screened general insurance products. Progress will be reviewed annually as part of the group’s sustainability report.
The plan also makes a reinforced commitment to Fairtrade products, with the promise “if it can be Fairtrade, it will be Fairtrade”.
Paul Monaghan, head of social goals and sustainability at the Co-operative Group,says the Co-op is the “UK’s Fairtrade pioneer” and that it has been sourcing fairly traded products since “before there was even a Fairtrade Foundation in the UK”.
He points out that many people don’t realise that three-quarters of Fairtrade producers are cooperatives. “Cooperative to cooperative trade is something we’ve been engaging in for more than 150 years.”
Up to scale
Monaghan says the Co-op is confident it can bring even more Fairtrade volume on board “as we did when we acquired Somerfield and extended our Fairtrade range to their former stores”.
Other targets in the new plan includecommunity investment that will see £5m a year going to help tackle poverty in the vicinity of Co-op stores and branches, and an ambitious pledge to cut carbon emissions by 35% by 2017.
Kay Clark, senior associate at Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, believes the Co-op’s plan goes above and beyond the commitments of any other retailer. “The fact that the plan is so well integrated into the Co-op’s core business – for example, constantly reviewing it at board level, ensuring all new operational proposals fit the plan, and tying their carbon off-set activities to their own international operations – is evidence that they are redefining the way they operate as a business.”
Clark would like to see more supply-chain engagement, though. “While the plan does include measures to drive down the environmental impact of production,” she says, “there is limited commitment to cutting carbon emissions within the supply chain.” With approximately 75% of the Co-op’s emissions coming from suppliers rather than its own operations, this looks like a significant omission.
The Co-op does seem to recognise this. Monaghan says the plan’s commitments will be rolled out in the Co-op’s supply chainin a variety of ways.
Overall, however, Clark believes the Co-op is to be congratulated on its efforts. “This plan should be an inspiration to other businesses, as it is both stretching and admirably transparent,” she says.
Of course, other UK retailers, notably Marks & Spencer with its Plan A, have made significant progress in making ethics and sustainability a core part of business strategy. Was this an incentive for the Co-op to set new standards?
“Plan A is a fantastic piece of marketing, and certainly shook things up,” Monaghan says. “They and others were starting to close in on our leadership positioning, and so the time was right for us to raise the bar again and create some clear blue water between us and the plcs. Let’s see how they respond.”