The Co-operative Approach Raises Ethical Bar Yet Again

Released on: February 17, 2012, 8:27 pm
Author: Dave Smith
Industry: Travel

As the United Nations celebrates the International Year of Co-operatives, the UK’s biggest mutually owned business yesterday (16 February) demonstrated how its longer term approach has enabled it to raise the ethical bar yet again.

The Co-operative Group’s latest ethical plan, first launched 12 months ago as the most radical sustainability programme in UK corporate history, shows how many of the original targets, particularly in relation to environmental issues, have been achieved well ahead of schedule.

The new plan shows that in the past 12 months The Co-operative has seen:
• Operational greenhouse gas emissions reduce by a massive 35%, and water consumption is down by 20%
• Lending of £700 million has been progressed to green energy projects
• Pressure groups have ranked The Co-operative as leader in areas such as pesticides, palm oil, sustainable fish and forest stewardship
• A million new customer members have joined
• Support for a new community initiative in the UK every hour of every day
• 700 co-operative enterprises have been helped to grow and prosper
• 70% of developing world products that can be Fairtrade will be Fairtrade by end March

This year’s Plan contains 53 commitments and, in order to ensure that The Co-operative continues to be the UK’s most socially responsible business, includes the following:
• Operational greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 50% by 2020, and water consumption will be reduced by 30% by 2014
• £17m will be invested in support of co-operative development
• The number of schools active in our Green schools Revolution will be doubled to 6,000
• To improve the safety of Britain’s roads, young drivers will be rewarded with premium discounts worth £20m
• A new campaign will be launched with Oxfam to champion small-holder farmers and co-operatives, and the role they can play in feeding the world sustainably
• 30,000 loans to entrepreneurs in the developing world will be facilitated by the year end Group Chief Executive Peter Marks said: "Despite the economic downturn we have remained true to our pledge to show the way on corporate responsibility.

“The one million new members we now have bears testimony to the continued support we have had from our customers. It also helps that the savings that result from our environmental efficiency initiatives, nearly £40m a year, are being ploughed back into the business to reduce costs.

“Our work in the communities in and around our stores is going from strength to strength. Amazingly, the average person in the UK is now only a mile away from a community project that has received our support.

“Abroad, we have continued to lead the way on tackling global poverty. Our new partnership with Oxfam is particularly timely given it’s the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives. Smallholder farmers and co-operatives already help feed a third of the world, with a little more help they can help us rise to the challenge of how to feed sustainably the extra two billion that will be on the planet by 2050.”

Jonathon Porritt , Founder Director of Forum for the Future, said: “The UK’s energy economy has been profoundly weakened by an over-dependence on the big energy companies and inconsistencies in both policy and regulation.

“Despite all that, community energy schemes are at last coming into their own, and the very substantial support now promised to community energy by The Co-operative has the potential to transform this hugely exciting sector. If you want to see what the ‘green economy’ looks like in practice, look no further.”

Oxfam Chief Executive, Barbara Stocking said: “Oxfam and The Co-operative’s new campaigning partnership will shine a spotlight on the crucial role that small farmers and co-operatives play in global food production. It's morally indefensible that 1 billion people currently go hungry every day; increased international investment in co-operatives and small farmers, especially women, who produce the majority of the world’s food, would help to tackle this injustice and ensure a future where everyone always has enough to eat.”

Additional Information:
The Co-operative Group is the UK’s largest mutual business, owned not by private shareholders but by over six million consumers. It is the UK’s fifth biggest food retailer, the leading convenience store operator and a major financial services provider, operating The Co-operative Bank, Britannia and The Co-operative Insurance. Among its other businesses are the number one funeral services provider and Britain’s largest farming operation. As well as having clear financial and operational objectives, the Group has also set out its social and sustainability goals in its groundbreaking Ethical Plan, which specifies almost 50 commitments in these areas.

The Group operates 4,800 retail trading outlets, employs more than 106,000 people and has an annual turnover of more than £13bn. Further information is available at www.co-operative.coop

Contact Information:
Dave Smith
PR Manager, Corporate
t: 0161 827 5614
m: 07702 152771
dave.smith@co-operative.coop

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