Ahold Delhaize Sets Updated CO2 Emissions Reductions Targets for its Entire Value Chain

• Ahold Delhaize’s climate targets are in line with the UN’s goal of keeping global warming below 1.5°C.
• To achieve this, the company today commits to an updated interim CO2 emissions reduction target for its entire value chain (scope 3) of at least 37 percent by 2030.
• Ahold Delhaize remains committed to become net-zero across its entire value chain by 2050.
• For its own operations (scope 1 and 2), the company remains committed to become net-zero by 2040 with an interim target of a 50 percent reduction by 2030.

Ahold Delhaize today announces the update of its interim CO2 emissions reduction target for its entire value chain (scope 3) to at least 37 percent by 2030 and to become net-zero by 2050. For its own operations (scope 1 and 2), the company remains committed to become net-zero by 2040 with an interim target of a 50 percent reduction by 2030. With this updated scope 3 interim target, Ahold Delhaize aims to achieve the decarbonization of its entire value chain and ensures that all of its climate targets are in line with the UN’s goal of keeping global warming below 1.5°C.

The updated interim target is aligned with the Science Based Targets initiative’s Net-Zero Standard. In accordance with the recommendation by the Science Based Targets initiative, Ahold Delhaize is using its latest available emission profile from 2020 as baseline for its 37 percent 2030 reduction target, updated from a 2018 baseline before. In November 2021 the company joined the Business Ambition for 1.5°C, a global coalition of UN agencies, business and industry leaders, in partnership with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the UN led campaign ‘Race to Zero’. The update today is part of the annual climate reporting cycle as per the Business Ambition agreements.

Decarbonization pathway

Whereas scopes 1 and 2 involve the CO2 emissions of Ahold Delhaize’s own operations (mainly consisting of energy, refrigeration systems and owned and leased transport), scope 3 represents the indirect CO2 emissions across our entire value chain. This value chain consists of thousands of suppliers, producers and farmers who supply hundreds of thousands of products that are sold to millions of customers across the United States and Europe each day.

Jan Ernst de Groot, Chief Sustainability Officer of Ahold Delhaize: “As a group of mainstream supermarkets and retailers, we want to provide customers with sustainable and healthy products, while keeping shelf availability and affordability top of mind. Our commitment is to future generations, to continue to play a leading role in the transition to a more sustainable food system. We are proud of frontrunners like Albert Heijn, who inspire other brands within the Ahold Delhaize group – and the sector – to take sustainability performance to the next level in their market.”

The updated interim target is the result of extensive review, which started in November 2021 together with external experts. This review shows that the main drivers of emission reduction in scope 3 can be structured in three categories: suppliers and farmers, low-carbon products and customer engagement.

For more information, visit the company’s official press release.