Ikea Files 2009 Green Report Card

Ikea, which highlights green initiatives at its US stores on its Facebook page, has released its 2009 report on global sustainability initiatives, noting that it reduced its carbon footprint by 5%, with CO2 emissions from transporting goods down by 10%.

In an effort to reduce its carbon output even further, it's developing a new global framework for measuring greenhouse gas emissions. It's also partnering with the World Wildlife Fund and urging suppliers to reduce their energy use by 30% or more by 2011. It's starting to see progress, with two glass suppliers in China already reporting cuts exceeding 40%.

The home retailer just missed its 2009 goal of 75% renewable materials in its products (which came in at 71%), and also failed to reach its 2009 target of 30% of its wood coming from verified responsibly managed forests.

"Ikea is obsessed with making more from less, and we don't like to waste resources of any kind. This will continue to be our compass in years to come, and we will stimulate new thinking and innovation in our sustainability work," stated Ikea president and CEO Mikael Ohlsson on the company's 2009 sustainability goals and progress.

Some highlights from its 2009 sustainability report follow after the jump; click here to check out the full report.

Climate Change: "In its 2009 fiscal year, Ikea reduced total CO2 emissions by 5% from the previous year, while continuing to steadily bring down IKEA emissions per product volume.... In 2010, IKEA will participate in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, by road testing a new global framework for measuring greenhouse gas emissions. As for suppliers, a pilot program is in place to reduce energy use by 30% or more by 2011 from set suppliers. In FY09, CO2 emissions from goods transport was 10% lower than FY08. IKEA is expanding its effort with four new climate change projects with WWF to measure supply chain emissions, help customers tackle climate change through transport initiatives, reduce emissions from IKEA food product transport, and improve the reuse and recycling of used products."

Suppliers: "In FY09, IKEA updated IWAY, a long standing supplier code of conduct. Improvements in IWAY included more stringent requirements for suppliers. This action resulted in reducing the negative environmental impact on supplier production and operations. Since IWAY was introduced in 2000, IKEA has made more than 100,000 improvements. IKEA South Asia suppliers show significant improvements in better working and living conditions, as well as better chemical and waste management. Additionally, this region has many textile industries in which IKEA specialists support these suppliers with improved water treatment management."

Never Ending List: "Making improvements for a better and a more sustainable retail company is a never ending job. There is always more work to be done. The launch of the Never Ending Job list is a customer engagement and education initiative that speaks directly to customers with the goal of increasing awareness – with transparency and authenticity – about the many sustainable programs and processes at IKEA worldwide.  The 'Never Ending Job' will be communicated in the 300 plus IKEA stores worldwide, the catalogue, the web and IKEA publications."

IKEA Social Initiative: One example - "In 2009, IKEA Social Initiative committed its support by ensuring access to quality education in 5,000 Indian villages in Northern India. This program also includes empowering Women with UNDP; in 2009, IKEA Social Initiative started a cooperative program with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to empower 50,000 women of Uttar Pradesh, India to become leaders, role models and entrepreneurs. The UNDP cooperation spans from 2009 to 2013 and will enhance the social, economic and political empowerment of women in 500 villages."