Climate Protection on a Company Level

The climate is massively impacted by human activity; climate change has a powerful effect on ecosystems and, as a result, on societies as well. REWE Group understands its responsibility for the climate: A large portion of global CO₂ emissions is created during the production and consumption of products, the provision of services and by transport.

To permanently integrate sustainability into its company processes, REWE Group has developed an all-encompassing sustainability strategy that is made up of four main pillars: Green Products; Energy, Climate and the Environment; Employees; and Social Involvement. In addition, three areas of action have been defined for the pillar Energy, Climate and the Environment: energy efficiency, climate-relevant emissions and conservation of resources. In terms of climate protection, the activities of REWE Group are included in the area of action climate-relevant emissions.

GRI 305: Emissions

Management Approach

REWE Group has made energy conservation and the avoidance of climatically harmful emissions a high priority. And this issue will become even more important as energy prices rise. Key challenges to be faced by REWE Group in future include cutting energy consumption while addressing rising needs in the areas of freshness and convenience, work that will require increased transports and refrigeration.

The declared strategic goal of REWE Group is to make a measurable contribution to climate and resource protection or, at the very least, to keep impacts on the climate and the environment to a minimum. This commitment is clearly spelled out in the Guidelines on sustainable business practices of REWE Group.

REWE Group defined its first climate goal and drafted its first carbon footprint report in 2009. The reporting framework includes all parts of the value chain that can be directly controlled. Specifically, this means: Emission data relates to the process chain from the central warehouses to the stores of the REWE Group and to the travel agencies and administration. Manufacture and transport of the products are not taken into account, nor use and disposal of the products by the customers.

In 2013, REWE Group modified the climate goals it set in 2009 and is working to cut its greenhouse gas emissions per square metre of sales area in half by 2022 compared with the base year 2006. This target was already reached during the 2020 financial year.

Total greenhouse gas emissions for Germany and Austria have fallen from 2.37 million tonnes in the base year of 2006 to about 1.76 million tonnes in 2020. This represents a decrease of about 26 per cent. Specific greenhouse gas emissions (unit: CO₂ equivalents per square metre of sales area) plunged by 53.6 per cent during the same period (see Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity).

In addition to this overarching environmental goal, REWE Group has defined other KPIs, focussing on activities in energy, climate and the environment. These are areas where significant levels of consumption occur and where REWE Group can have a direct impact by taking its own measures: Energy efficiency (refrigeration and lighting, see the section Energy) and refrigerant-related greenhouse gas emissions. As in previous years, REWE Group in Germany and Austria also achieved these goals for 2020. For the KPI on electricity consumption per square metre of sales area, the use of LEDs, measures for energy-efficient refrigeration as well as construction and remodelling activities have played a key role. Within the context of the energy management system, REWE Group is currently developing a new target. Specific measures to reduce energy consumption can be found in Energy).

Carbon footprint as a monitoring instrument
To document the progress being made in reaching climate goals and to facilitate monitoring of the emission-reducing steps, REWE Group has hired independent experts to prepare an annual carbon footprint report since 2009. During the reporting period, this was carried out for Germany by INFRAS AG and for Austria by denkstatt GmbH. In addition to outlining the achieved savings, the Carbon Footprint Report highlights the fundamental levers that the company has at its disposal. The major causes of greenhouse gas emissions are electrical, heating and refrigeration systems (for information about energy-related steps, see the section Energy).

Greenhouse gas emissions were calculated in accordance with the GHG Protocol. In determining CO₂ equivalent emission factors, as in the previous years, data from the material-flow-analysis model GEMIS, the transport emission model TREMOD and the life-cycle analysis database Ecoinvent were used.

Promoting the use of alternative energies
At the beginning of 2008, the company shifted the source of the electricity used by its stores, warehouses and travel agencies in Germany and Austria to certified green power. This power is purchased from Hamburg-based Energie-Handels-Gesellschaft (EHA), a wholly owned subsidiary of REWE Group. The green power generated by REWE Group Germany meets the requirements of the Label EE01 of TÜV SÜD, a technical services company in Germany. In accordance with the convention of the German Environment Agency regarding the calculation of green power, a regulation that is designed to facilitate the expansion of power produced from renewable sources, REWE Group only applies the share of young systems pursuant to Label EE01 as an emission-lowering factor in calculating its carbon footprint in Germany (about 25 per cent). In 2020, the green electricity purchased through the EHA comprised 89.7 per cent from hydro, 4 per cent from wind turbines and 6.3 per cent from solar.

In addition, REWE Group employs photovoltaic technology and other regenerative technologies to produce its own energy. Photovoltaic systems are used in administrative offices, warehouses and stores in suitable locations (particularly Green Building stores). At the end of 2020, REWE Group operated photovoltaic systems at 53 locations in Germany. These units have a potential peak power output of 16,699 kWp.

Reduction of refrigerant-related greenhouse gas emissions
The greenhouse gas emissions produced by refrigerating systems are largely the result of the refrigeration agents used in them. To cut emissions, REWE Group decided at an early stage to use the most climate-friendly refrigeration agents. As a way of reducing refrigerant-related greenhouse gas emissions, REWE Group defined the following KPI and related target:

Through the reduction of 46.7 per cent, REWE Group in Germany and Austria hit the target for 2022 in 2019. The use of climate-friendly refrigeration agents played a key role in reaching this target. These agents increasingly also include natural refrigerants like CO₂ and propane and refrigerants with lower greenhouse gas potential.

As part of REWE Group’s sustainability strategy, all multicompressor systems of commercial refrigeration used in new stores and most of remodelled stores at REWE and PENNY use the natural refrigerant CO₂. Plug-in refrigerating units that will be used in future at all new and remodelled stores will use the natural refrigerant propane (R290).

GRI 305-1, 305-2, 305-3:

Greenhouse gas emissions scopes 1–3 (tonnes of CO₂equivalents)

GRI 305-4:

Greenhouse gas emissions intensity

During the reporting period, both the total and the specific greenhouse gas emissions (per square metre of sales area) of REWE Group decreased. In 2020, specific greenhouse gas emissions totalled 162 kilograms of CO₂ equivalents per square metre. They were reduced by 53.6 per cent compared with the base year of 2006. The calculation of emission intensity comprises direct and indirect energy-related emissions as well as other indirect emissions (scopes 1, 2 and 3).

The greenhouse gas emissions of REWE Group were broken down in the following manner for 2020:

GRI 305-5:

Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

REWE Group has launched a variety of electricity-saving measures designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As a result of these efforts, about 8,533 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents were saved in 2020.

GRI 305-6:

Emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODS)

In recent years, REWE Group has systematically cut its use of ozone-depleting substances – since 2006 by about 99 per cent. The chief reason for this decline was the legally mandated replacement of the refrigerant R22 with non-ozone-depleting refrigerants. In 2020, emissions from ozone-depleting substances from replenished refrigerant was 3 kilograms of CFC 11 equivalents.

GRI 305-7:

Nitrogen oxides (NO_x), sulfur oxides (SO_x) and other significant air emissions

The airborne pollutants associated with the business activities of REWE Group are primarily caused by upstream combustion and production processes used to make electricity, heat and paper. In addition, emissions generated by refrigerants, logistics and business trips have an impact on air quality.