By Victoria McKenzie-Gould, M&S’ Director of Corporate Affairs

In 2021 we set out a bold ambition to become a net zero business by 2040, and today our 22/23 sustainability report has been published which shows exactly how we’re tracking against our targets. In short, we’re doing ok but – like everyone - there’s a long way to go, particularly in tackling our scope 3 emissions.  

But the report also covers what we are doing on the issues we know really matter to our customers and colleagues. Plan A was pioneering in its approach to sustainability when it was first launched in 2007, and now this way of thinking about environmental, ethical trade, animal welfare and heathier foods is a core part of how we source and make our products and how we run our business. Plan A is embedded in the business with accountability devolved to each of the Clothing & Home and Food Managing Directors and integrated into our nine strategic priorities, with exceptional product and trusted brand at the very heart.

Our priority of offering our customers exceptional product from a trusted brand is right at the centre of Plan A; our CEO Stuart Machin talks about ‘protecting the magic’ of M&S while we modernise the rest - which really sums up our approach. The report out today shows in great detail the steps we’ve been taking throughout the year to ensure we make and source our products with care so that they’re simply too good to go to waste. Two key areas we know our customers care about are food waste and reducing plastic.

Food waste has been reduced by 46% meaning we’re on track to halve all in-store waste by 2030. Removing best before dates on 300 fruit and veg lines made a big difference, and our announcement today of scrapping use by dates on milk for best before will help customers make even more sustainable choices.

We also grew our food surplus redistribution to 79% of all edible food, and with our partner Neighbourly reached the milestone of 60 million meals donated to local charities to help those in need.

On plastic reduction we saved over 10 million pieces of plastic annually by introducing a ‘bring your own bag’ initiative for Click & Collect orders in Clothing & Home, and in Food where the majority of our plastic product packaging is used, we hit our target of removing 75 million piece this year. Good progress but still plenty more to do.

The report also reviews our net zero by 2040 ambition. Across scopes 1, 2 and 3, our target is to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030. This year the Science Based Targets initiative approved our reduction target, and we also made progress by putting the right technology and data platforms in place to empower colleagues to take direct actions to reduce our impact. Our partnership with Sphera, an ESG performance management system, has been transformative in giving colleagues access to frequent and robust data which they can use to take action to drive emissions down. This year we delivered a 3% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across scopes 1 and 2, totalling a 32% reduction from our 16/17 base year. However, with the right tools and systems in place as a business we can now go faster on identifying and delivering savings and also look at how best to use data and tech to measure and take action on Scope 3 – which comprises 94% of our emissions - so it is a sizeable task.

We know we need to constantly challenge, adapt and evolve our strategies to stay ahead of the curve. While carbon offsets and Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs) have served us well in the past when the focus was on carbon neutral, we recognise that they are not a long-term solution to ensure the M&S business is fit for a net zero future. Our focus now lies in taking concrete actions as a business and with our supplier partners to reduce our emissions directly. We want to unleash the power of innovation and demonstrate, that as a business, we can be a catalyst for change across our value chain. Our £1m Plan A Accelerator Fund will enable us to focus investment in research and development, partnering with like-minded organisations, and exploring emerging technologies that hold the potential to revolutionise our industry. 

Of course, we don’t operate in a silo and we can’t deliver on some of our biggest targets alone and it will require government and industry stakeholders playing their part too.

Stuart, our CEO, has a great phrase - ‘positively dissatisfied’ – which really does sum up where we are. Our colleagues have done a fantastic job this year in making real progress on net zero and wider ESG issues, but there’s a long way to go – as well as lots of opportunities - and so much to do. What we are committed to doing is updating every year openly and transparently on how we are doing – and to live our core value of ‘doing the right thing’ for our colleagues, customers, partners, suppliers and the communities we serve.