Kingfisher plc, the international home improvement retailer and owner of Screwfix and B&Q, has announced today it is committing to a new 2040 net zero target and an increased 60% Sustainable Home Products sales 2025 target. Kingfisher published today its annual Responsible Business Report, which shows that the business has made significant progress with its responsible business priorities during the financial year.

Key 2021/22 achievements 

• 24.5% reduction in carbon emissions across Kingfisher’s operations (scope 1 and 2)
• Over £5.8 billion (44.1%) in annual sales came from products that help customers create more sustainable homes
• Over 1.5 million people with a housing need helped since 2016/17
• 87.2% of wood and paper in products, and 100% of catalogue paper, now being responsibly sourced and on track to be Forest Positive by 2025/26

New targets

• New goal to reach net zero emissions for operations (scope 1 and 2) by the end of 2040
• 60% of total sales to be from Sustainable Home Products by the end of 2025.

Thierry Garnier, Chief Executive Officer of Kingfisher plc, said: “We are committed to helping tackle climate change by setting targets both in the short and in the long term. In the short term, we are on track to reduce our carbon emissions in line with global efforts to limit warming to below 1.5°C by 2025. In the long term, we are now committed to reach net zero emissions by the end of 2040.

“Helping our customers to live in more sustainable homes is another of our key priorities. We think everyone deserves a greener, healthier home – that’s comfortable to live in but uses fewer resources and costs less to run. With rising energy prices, home energy efficiency has never been more important.

“There is more to do, but we have made good progress since last year, not only with our progress on carbon reduction but also with our work to become a more inclusive company, and our commitment to help people living in unfit housing.

“Being a responsible business is at the heart of our ‘Powered by Kingfisher’ strategy’. By uniting colleagues behind our responsible business ambitions and embedding our targets into our reward structures and governance processes, we are committed to use our knowledge, experience and scale to achieve positive change for all.”

Overview of responsible business commitments for 2022 and beyond

New net zero carbon reduction target

Kingfisher has committed to becoming net zero across its operations (scope 1 and 2) by the end of 2040/41, supported by its pre-existing science-based target of reducing operational emissions by 37.8% by 2025/26¹. This follows the business’ announcement that it has already reduced such emissions by 24.5%, driven by its transition to 100% renewable electricity, significant investment in energy efficiency measures and the trialling and roll-out of alternative fuels within its delivery fleets. This is in addition to Kingfisher’s existing commitment to reduce scope 3 GHG emissions from use of sold products and purchased goods and services by 40% per £million turnover by 2025/26.

Becoming Forest Positive

Overall, Kingfisher is on track to become Forest Positive by 2025/26. As a founding member of the Rainforest Alliance Forest Allies initiative, it is investing in six projects in key forest geographies across the globe, which will support communities in regions most at risk of deforestation. The business continues to make progress towards its target to use 100% responsibly sourced wood and paper in its products and catalogues by 2025/26. In 2021/22, 87.2% of wood and paper in products were responsibly sourced as well as 100% of catalogue paper for the second year. 

Helping customers live in more sustainable homes

As a home improvement company, Kingfisher has a responsibility to improve the sustainability credentials of houses across the UK and has set a new target for 60% of its total sales to come from Sustainable Home Products (SHPs, such as insulation, water-efficient taps and chemical-free gardening products) by the end of 2025. This target includes 70% for its Own Exclusive Brands. The report reveals that in 2021/22 44.1% (£5.8 billion) of total Group sales came from SHPs, including 10% (£1.32bn) derived from energy and water-saving products. This represents a doubling of sales since the SHP programme was established in 2011. 

Supporting communities and fixing bad housing

Kingfisher remains on course to help more than two million people whose housing needs are greatest by 2025. In 2021/22, a total of £4m was invested in community projects and 800,000 people across Europe received support with addressing unsafe housing. This puts the total number of people reached at over 1.5m since 2016/17, marking strong progress towards the Group’s two million target.

Gender diversity is improving

According to today’s report, under the Group’s Inclusion and Diversity strategy launched in 2021, the proportion of female board directors has increased from 44% to 50%. Kingfisher is also on track to hit its targets to improve gender balance to 35% women in senior leadership and 40% in management by 2025, with the business reaching 25% women in senior leadership and 38% women in management roles in 2021.

Governance

From 2022/23, Kingfisher is integrating Responsible Business measures into the Kingfisher Performance Share Plan, which will be granted to members of its senior leadership group.