A large heart-shaped patch of dense woodland stands in stark contrast to the surrounding open, green countryside.

Together for effective climate protection

We are focusing our climate efforts on measurably reducing greenhouse gas emissions within our own business and along our value chain, and we report on our progress.

Commitment

By joining the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in March 2024, we as REWE Group committed to science-based climate targets aligned with the 1.5°C pathway of the Paris Agreement.

Objectives

Our aim is for the Group to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050; to this end, we underwent validation by the SBTi in March 2026. We focus on significantly reducing emissions in our own activities and in our supply chains (Scope 3), where 98 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions occur.
For REWE and PENNY in Germany, we set ourselves the target of “net zero by 2050” at an early stage. To achieve this, we – together with REWE and PENNY in Germany – are committed to reducing our GHG emissions by 2030, compared with the base year 2021, as follows:

– absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 42 per cent,

– absolute Scope 3 non-FLAG greenhouse gas emissions¹ by 42 per cent,

– absolute Scope 3 FLAG greenhouse gas emissions² by 30.3 per cent.

The above-mentioned emissions targets set by REWE and PENNY in Germany were validated by the SBTi in December 2024.

At REWE and PENNY in Germany, we are working to ensure that our supply chains are free from deforestation and conversion by the end of 2025.³ We have achieved this goal – see Successes.

You can find more information on our objectives and their achievement in our overview of Objectives and KPIs..

¹ Non-FLAG emissions are emissions resulting from purchased goods and services, capital goods, upstream transport and sales, as well as the use of products sold. The target framework also includes land-related emissions and withdrawals from bioenergy feedstocks.

² FLAG emissions are greenhouse gas emissions caused by land use, land use change, forestry and agricultural activities. The target includes FLAG emissions and removals.

³ Cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soya for animal feed, wood and paper, as well as fresh beef, with a cut-off date of 1 January 2020. Conversion relates to all valuable ecosystems. Applies to REWE and PENNY in Germany’s private label products.

Our measures*

What we are doing specifically

Our successes*

What we have already achieved

To achieve our reduction targets, we are implementing specific measures within the company and throughout our supply chains.

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With the “Gemeinsam für mehr Klimaschutz” (Together for more climate protection) initiative, we support private label products suppliers in defining SBTi climate targets and implementing reduction measures. Since 2025, we have been asking all of our private label suppliers to make an SBTi commitment. Starting in 2026, this will be included as a selection criterion in our procurement process. In an online training session, we explained the steps involved, from making an SBTi commitment through to validation. By the end of 2025, 226 suppliers (accounting for 52.3 per cent of product-related private label targets) had already made an SBTi commitment or achieved SBTi validation.

In 2025, through the “Förderprogramm Klimaschutz” (Climate protection support programme) under the aegis of the Competence Centre for Agriculture, we once again offered our private label suppliers co-financing for projects aimed at reducing GHG emissions in the supply chain and engaged in dialogue with approximately 50 private label suppliers on the topic of climate protection.

We are constantly expanding our range of vegan private label products, the production of which generates emissions comparable to those of similar animal-based products¹ (see also the focus topic Nutrition and Protein Strategy).

At the Corporate Level², we are reducing our consumption of fossil fuels, including district heating, by 20 per cent by 2030 compared to the base year 2019 (see Objectives and KPIs). In 2025, our logistics department tested the use of electric and hydrogen-powered lorries, for example, in store delivery.

To ensure that our soya feed supply chains are deforestation- and conversion-free, we rely on recognised certifications or low-risk sources.³ We are also involved in initiatives such as “QS-Soja^plus” (QA soy plus) and the “Donau Soja” (Danube soya) protein partnership, thereby helping to promote soya of European origin in order to reduce emissions from land-use change.

In 2025, BILLA in Austria carried out a pilot project to introduce an internal carbon price. This was used as a benchmark for evaluating logistics and energy-related investment projects. The internal carbon price helps to anticipate future external carbon costs and manage emissions reductions in a cost-effective manner.

The DERTOUR GROUP is a founding member of “KlimaLink e. V.” (ClimateLink) with the aim of recognising the climate impact of travelling on the product (carbon footprint) through an industry-wide standard. This is already evident for flights in brick-and-mortar travel agencies. Starting in 2026, emissions from hotels and package holidays will be reported externally. In addition, the DERTOUR Group has a strategic partnership with the Lufthansa Group, which enables it to offer more climate-friendly air travel through the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF). Since 2015, projects promoting climate-conscious travel have been carried out as part of the organisation’s membership of Futouris e. V., the sustainability initiative for the German-speaking travel industry.

We are implementing climate protection and decarbonisation through our own initiatives as well as through projects with partners such as NABU. We also link our financial strategy to our sustainability strategy.

We have been making our supply chains deforestation- and conversion-free since the end of 2025. Our goals of sourcing primary high-risk raw materials⁴ from certified sources or low-risk origins have been met or are nearly met (see Objectives and KPIs). We aim to further expand the share of our physical supply chains in future.

By 2025, REWE and PENNY in Germany had further reduced their emissions: by 16.6 per cent for Scope 1 and 2, and with initial progress on Scope 3. One of the reasons for this development is that, in 2023, we became the first German food retailer to issue a sustainability-linked bond worth 900 million euros on the capital market. The terms of this bond are directly linked to the achievement of our climate targets for REWE and PENNY in Germany. The second Progress Report on this topic was published in July 2025.

In Germany and Austria, we more than halved our GHG emissions per unit of retail floor space at Corporate Level between 2006 and 2021.

Since 2022, REWE in Germany has been supporting the NABU Climate Fund with at least five million euros annually. By the end of 2025, just under 4,515 hectares of moorland (2024: 4,000) had been secured for rewetting across seven European countries (2024: six), thereby saving 875,000 t CO₂e. Europe’s largest moorland renaturalisation project for former agricultural land is currently underway in the Ahlen-Falkenberger Moor in the Cuxhaven district. More on this subject can be found in the focus topics Sustainable Consumption and Biodiversity.

By early 2025, we had switched our entire range of soils⁵ to peat-free alternatives; REWE and PENNY had already achieved this target in 2024.

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Since 2008, 523 stores (2024: 448) have been created in Germany in accordance with the green building criteria of the “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen” (German Association for Sustainable Building); 178 (2024: 183) are under construction or in planning. Furthermore, there are now 11 (2024: 11) storage sites of this kind, with a further eight at the planning or construction stage. There are 22 green buildings at toom Baumarkt DIY store (2024: 18). In addition, 50 BILLA and BILLA PLUS stores in Austria had Greenpass certification for their climate-resilient construction at the end of 2025. We intend to add a further 20 by the end of 2026.

Together with the Berchtesgadener Land dairy, we at PENNY are supporting farmers through the “Zukunftsbauer” (future farmer) project to help them make their farms more climate-friendly. For every “Zukunftsbauer” product sold, a contribution goes into the fund. Between 2021 and 2025, this amounted to around 2.6 million euros. Just under 700 measures relating to energy generation, storage and conservation have already been implemented on family-run farms in the Alpine region.

A row of wind turbines stands in the sea beneath a clear blue sky.

Full wind power ahead

We have been using certified green electricity in our stores, DIY stores, warehouses, and travel offices in Germany and Austria since 2008. We were the first food retailer⁶ in Germany to conclude a long-term Power Purchase Agreement for an offshore wind farm. Starting in 2026, 1,500 stores in Germany and Austria will be supplied with electricity from the Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farm.

^* Scope: REWE and PENNY in Germany; deviations are explicitly stated.

¹ Scope: REWE and PENNY in Germany and the REWE Group in Austria. Calculation method: The term “CO₂e” refers to the total sum of greenhouse gases whose values are converted into CO₂ equivalents in accordance with the “Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard” (GHG Protocol). The CO₂e emissions figures for the “REWE Bio+vegan” organic and vegan products are based on a calculation commissioned by REWE Zentral AG and carried out by ClimatePartner in accordance with the GHG Protocol, following the “cradle-to-customer plus waste” approach. For the sake of comparability, the calculations were based on 1 kilogram of goods, as the units sold may vary in size.

² Scope: All consolidated companies of the REWE Group that were part of the group in 2023, including independent retailers in which REWE holds a stake.

³ For fresh poultry, pork and beef, shell eggs and drinking milk sold under the REWE and PENNY in Germany private label ranges.

⁴ Cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soya for animal feed, timber and paper, as well as fresh beef, with a cut-off date of 1 January 2020. Conversion relates to all valuable ecosystems. Scope: REWE and PENNY in Germany private label products.

⁵ Scope: REWE and PENNY in Germany, BILLA in Austria as well as toom Baumarkt DIY store.

⁶ See the REWE Group press release dated 20 September 2021.

Read our Progress Report 2025 as PDF

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