In a significant stride towards sustainability, the Shoprite Group has elevated its renewable energy consumption by nearly twofold, reaching 103,234MWh compared to the previous year’s 54,138MWh. This impressive achievement stems from a 91% increase in acquiring renewable energy from landlords and other suppliers. The retail giant has concurrently slashed electricity consumption by 161 million kWh through an LED lamp replacement initiative and boasts solar-panel installations covering the equivalent of more than 26 soccer fields.
Sanjeev Raghubir, Shoprite Group’s CSI & Sustainability Manager, emphasizes the urgency of climate action, especially in Africa, a continent bearing disproportionate impacts despite contributing the least to global greenhouse gas emissions. The company’s commitment involves investing significantly in reducing its carbon footprint across operations and prioritizing energy consumption. Notably, Shoprite’s solar photovoltaic facilities now generate sufficient clean energy to power nearly 4,800 homes annually.
Raghubir outlines the Group’s three-pronged approach, which encompasses consumption reduction, expanding renewable capacity, and collaborative electricity purchases with independent power producers (IPPs). Despite the commendable progress, the next step involves “wheeling” – buying electricity from an IPP through the existing transmission network, necessitating collaborative efforts to establish a national wheeling framework.
Shoprite’s proactive stance is reflected in its position as the only African company on the Carbon Disclosure Project’s Supplier Engagement Leaderboard for actively addressing climate risk within its supply chain. The Group remains committed to science-based targets, aligning with its sense of urgency in reducing carbon emissions across stores, distribution centers, and transportation, irrespective of global climate negotiations.
