Texan by Nature is excited to recognize Walmart as a 2021 TxN 20 honoree for their leadership in conservation and sustainability. Walmart’s commitment to conservation, their projects, programs, best practices, and lessons learned are an example and inspiration for us all.

Honoree Industry and Size: Retail – Enterprise

Company Overview: 

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, approximately 220 million customers and members visit approximately 10,500 stores and clubs under 48 banners in 24 countries and eCommerce websites. With fiscal year 2021 revenue of $559 billion, Walmart employs over 2 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy, and employment opportunities. 

What is Walmart’s conservation and sustainability mission and why is it important to your culture?

For more than 15 years, Walmart has been collaborating with others to drive positive impact across global supply chains. Our sustainability efforts prioritize people and the planet by aiming to source responsibly, eliminate waste and emissions, sell sustainable products, and protect and restore nature.

We understand that for a business to last, it must have a fundamental reason for being – which is found in the value it creates not only for shareholders, but for the world. That’s why we have committed to becoming a regenerative company dedicated to placing nature and humanity at the center of our business practices.

How is conservation and sustainability a part of Walmart’s business strategy?

Exceptional environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices go hand-in-hand with financial value creation by enhancing customer trust, securing future supply, catalyzing new product lines, increasing productivity, and reducing costs.  

Shared value—addressing societal issues in ways that create value for our business and stakeholders—lies at the heart of Walmart’s enterprise strategy and our approach to ESG issues, including sustainability. We strive to find the intersection between social and environmental issues and the products, services, and operating model of our business, and then derive the benefits that are both meaningful and economical. That intersection is not always easy to find but critical to address environmental or social issues through effective and economical business practices.  

We make these practices central to what we do every day. For example, when it comes to climate change mitigation, efficiency savings have been a real driver. Our investments in energy efficiency, fleet efficiency, and renewable energy are critical to our climate targets but also generate a significant return on investment for our operations. 

What are Walmart’s short and long-term goals as they relate to conservation and sustainability?

Walmart’s climate change mitigation strategy includes our efforts, aligned with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), to eliminate emissions in our operations (scopes 1 and 2) by 2040 and aim to avoid one billion metric tons (a gigaton) of greenhouse gases in the global value chain (scope 3) by 2030 by inviting suppliers to set targets and take action through Project Gigaton.

•  In 2020, we raised our aspiration to reduce emissions in our operations (scopes 1 & 2) by realigning our science-based target to a 1.5-degree Celsius trajectory, the highest ambition approved by the SBTi. Our goal is to achieve zero emissions across Walmart’s global operations by 2040, reducing absolute  scopes 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 35% by 2025 and by 65% by 2030 from our 2015 base year. We were the first U.S. retailer to make a zero emissions commitment that does not rely on carbon offsets.
• We are committed to sourcing 100% renewable electricity for our operations by 2035—both through systems installed at our facilities and through purchases from external providers. We are working to reach zero emissions from all our vehicles and transportation network, including long-haul trucks in the U.S. and Canada, by 2040. An estimated 36% of our global electricity needs were supplied by renewable sources in 2020.[3]

Building upon years of work promoting the sustainable production of important commodities, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation committed in 2020 to help protect, manage or restore at least 50 million acres of land and 1 million square miles of ocean by 2030. We seek to achieve these goals by:

• Using our purchasing power to source products more sustainably, including by leveraging product certifications that credibly advance sustainability
• Engaging our suppliers and others to continually improve practices in ways that promote forest, field and ocean health
• Investing in tools and programs that promote systemic change – for example, certifications and standards; traceability and transparency tools; and the capacity to shift practices

Walmart aims to achieve zero waste[4] to landfill and incineration in our operations in U.S., Canada, Mexico, markets by 2025. 

• In 2020, we diverted an estimated 81% of waste from landfills and incineration globally, holding steady from the previous year.
• Walmart aims to reach 100% recyclable, reusable, or industrially compostable private-brand packaging by 2025. In 2020, an estimated 62% of Walmart private brand packaging was recyclable, reusable or industrially compostable, based on supplier reports.[5]

We believe it is the responsibility of business to respect human rights, and we aspire to use our capabilities and influence to bring about positive change at scale. To promote human dignity, we’ve set an aspiration to help make responsible recruitment standard business practice by 2026. To do so, we are working with other businesses, suppliers, governments and members of civil society to confront root causes of forced labor and trafficking. Through our business and philanthropic efforts, we have focused on:

• Strengthening demand for responsible labor practices
• Using data and technology to increase transparency about labor practices
• Enhancing worker and community voice tools and mechanisms
• Supporting efforts to improve enforcement of existing regulations

 Learn more about Walmart’s Sustainability goals here.

 Who at Walmart is leading your conservation and sustainability efforts and what are some examples of employee engagement in conservation and sustainability at your company?

Our leadership on sustainability starts with Walmart President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Doug McMillon, who set a goal in 2020 for Walmart to become a regenerative company – one that restores, renews and replenishes. Leadership of ESG issues starts with our CEO — with oversight from committees of our Board of Directors — and cascades across our enterprise. Walmart’s Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), Kathleen McLaughlin, helps define the ESG agenda and provides dedicated management and oversight of Walmart’s global ESG initiatives and goals. The CSO reports to our Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Dan Bartlett, and provides updates on our ESG agenda and progress to the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Walmart Board and to the Walmart executive leadership team. Board committees also have oversight responsibility for particular ESG issues. Jane Ewing, Senior Vice President, Sustainability, leads Walmart’s sustainability team. The Walmart corporate sustainability team leads the development of the company’s climate strategy, working with a cross-functional team including finance, real estate, operations, merchandising, strategy, and public policy. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation complement Walmart’s sustainability initiatives with philanthropy that aims to advance sustainability of supply chains through promotion of and support for social and environmental sustainability efforts. 

Our associates are passionate about many causes, and we support them by donating to nonprofits in honor of their service through Volunteerism Always Pays (VAP). In FY2021, more than 12,000 U.S. associates volunteered 278,000 hours through the program, generating more than $2 million in Walmart donations.

Praise for Walmart’s 2020 Nature Commitment:

“The choices we make today will fundamentally determine our long-term resilience to the biodiversity and climate crises, which is why we must rapidly scale up the protection and restoration of nature in the next few years. Walmart’s investments in our lands and oceans are a significant milestone for these efforts – and a testament to the fact that investing in nature benefits both businesses and local communities. Conservation International is proud to have partnered with Walmart on the science behind this commitment, and we look forward to turning today’s announcement into real impacts for people and the planet.” 

– Dr. M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International

What conservation and sustainability programs and projects does Walmart lead and participate in?

Because most emissions in the retail sector lie in product supply chains (scope 3) rather than in stores and distribution centers (scopes 1 and 2), we launched Project Gigaton™ to engage suppliers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders in climate action. Project Gigaton™ aims to avoid one billion metric tons (a gigaton) of greenhouse gases in Walmart’s global value chain by 2030 by inviting suppliers to set targets and take action across the program’s pillars: energy, waste, packaging, nature, transportation and product use and design changes.

• More than 3,100 suppliers have formally signed on, making Project Gigaton™ one of the largest private sector consortiums for climate action. Under Project Gigaton™, suppliers report having avoided more than 186 MMT of CO2e in 2020, for a cumulative total of more than 416 MMT of CO2e avoided since 2017.

As part of our goal to help protect, manage or restore at least 50 million acres of land and one million square miles of ocean by 2030, we aim to conserve one acre of land for every acre developed by Walmart U.S. stores. 

• Since 2005, we have conserved more than 1.6 million acres through the Walmart Acres for America program, administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). To date, Walmart’s Acres for America program has funded 100 projects in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. NFWF reports that the program has since become one of the most effective public-private land conservation partnerships in the U.S., helping to conserve more than 1.6 million acres of land since inception. The acres conserved is several times greater than the total number of acres Walmart U.S. has developed, and the acres conserved in recent years far outpaces the number of acres Walmart has developed over that period.

As part of the Beyond the Bag Initiative, we’re identifying, testing, and implementing innovative design solutions to the single-use plastic retail bag. In addition, more than 72% of our stores in Mexico have stopped offering plastic bags and we have launched several in-store pilots and tests of new design solutions to combat plastic waste. 

• We’re also optimizing product packaging, using less plastic and aiming for 100% reusable, recyclable, or industrially compostable packaging.
• We have asked our private brand suppliers to work toward 100% packaging that is recyclable, reusable, or industrially compostable by 2025. 

After five years working with the Midwest Row Crop Collaborative (MRCC), we recently announced 2030 goals aimed at driving a regenerative agriculture system, including: 

• Ensure that 30 million acres in the Midwest employ practices that support improved outcomes for soil health, greenhouse gases, water quality and use, biodiversity and farmer livelihoods. At least 1 million of these acres will demonstrate multiple measurable regenerative outcomes. 
• Reduce net on-farm greenhouse gas emissions in the Midwest row crop supply chain by 7 million metric tons.
• Directly support at least 30,000 Midwestern farm operations in the transition to regenerative agriculture.

How do you see the future of conservation and sustainability evolving, and what role will Walmart play in that progress? 

It is no longer enough to “slow down” climate change and protect what we have. Society must bend the curve on emissions and restore nature and that means shifting from protection and preservation to restoration and regeneration.

Walmart seeks to go beyond sustainability as it is understood and practiced today. In 2020, we raised our ambition for climate and nature, setting ourselves on a path toward becoming a regenerative company.

• Regenerating means restoring, renewing and replenishing in addition to conserving. It means decarbonizing operations and eliminating waste along the product chain. It means encouraging the adoption of regenerative practices in agriculture, forest management and fisheries – while advancing prosperity and equity for customers, associates and people across our product supply chains. And, working with our suppliers, customers, NGOs and others, we hope to play a part in transforming the world’s supply chains to be regenerative.

“Building on more than 15 years of our sustainability journey Walmart continues to raise our ambitions and place nature and humanity at the center of our business practices. The TxN 20 recognizes the critical role business plays in taking systemic and sustained action to protect and restore nature, and we’re thrilled to be among this year’s honorees.”

– Jane Ewing, Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Walmart.

How does Walmart quantify investment and return on conservation and sustainability?

Walmart believes a strong climate strategy contributes to business results by creating shared value for the business and stakeholders in several ways: 

Costs:

•  Energy savings – Walmart investments in energy efficiency, fleet efficiency, and renewables have helped lower costs. For example, the installation of more than 1.5 million LED Lights across our facilities saved more than $100 million over 10 years; our efforts to double fleet efficiency saved over $1 billion.
• Reducing food waste – Keeping food out of the waste stream reduces the cost of goods relative to sales by avoiding shrink. Last year more than 950 million pounds of food waste was diverted globally from the waste stream through composting, animal feed, anaerobic digestion and biochemical processing.
• Materials – During 2020, Walmart recycled more than 375 million pounds of plastic film and rigid plastics globally, an increase of more than 12% from 2019 [6] – an efficiency for our business as well as the planet.

Customer relevance:

• Customers tell us that climate change matters to them and they expect Walmart to engage in climate action. They have also responded positively to the climate-related initiatives that involve our assortment – for example, packaging reductions, pollinator health in live plants, and certifications (e.g., MSC-certified Great Value tuna). 

Supply security:

• By 2050, climate change is likely to affect the production, distribution and (in some cases) the viability of food and other consumer products that depend on agriculture. In an analysis of the potential climate exposure of several commodities, the analysis suggested that some commodities may face significant challenges due to future climate effects. Our merchants and sourcing teams work with suppliers to implement practices that promote resilience, such as cultivating heat resistant crops to prevent future sourcing challenges. The analysis underscores the relevance of Walmart sustainable commodity initiatives and other initiatives focused on enhancing the resilience of supply chains.

Community resilience:

• Without mitigation or adaptation, climate effects such as warming, flooding, drought, extreme weather events and rising sea levels are projected in the coming decades to reduce agricultural yields, force people from their homes, endanger lives and destroy infrastructure.
• As a retailer with millions of customers worldwide and a global sourcing footprint, Walmart is able to lead by reducing emissions in our operations and supply chain while galvanizing collective action across our industry. We believe a strong climate strategy will help us manage the physical and transition risks associated with climate change, strengthening the resilience of our business and helping us create value for stakeholders.

Our ESG reporting is guided by frameworks such as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and the United Nations (U.N.) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We also report through programs such as CDP, a global environmental disclosure system.

What is the one lesson that Walmart has learned from your conservation and sustainability efforts that others can take back and think about applying within their own space?

As the climate crisis intensifies, so does the situation regarding the degradation of critical natural ecosystems. As a retailer, many of the products our customers buy come from prairie, forests, and ocean ecosystems. Scientists tell us that nature can provide a third of the solution to climate change. In 2020, we set a goal – along with the Walmart Foundation – to help protect, manage or restore at least 50 million acres of land and one million square miles of ocean by 2030. Recognizing that we need to address these systemically, since then, we have been working on three types of efforts in support of these nature goals: 

• Sourcing of Walmart private brand products; 
• Encouraging and supporting suppliers through Project Gigaton™ (working with scientists to develop measurement in line with emerging science-based targets for nature); and
• Investing in new market enablers such as research, standards and traceability tools. 

For example, we have engaged beef suppliers to improve grain sourcing and grazing management practices, which help store carbon in the soil and enhance habitats. 

We have also invested in a grant (along with Cargill and McDonalds) to the World Wildlife Fund to engage cattle ranchers in restoration and conservation of Northern Great Plains ecosystems.

Why is Texas an important home or base of operations for Walmart?

Texas is a critical region for Walmart’s operations, with the company operating 593 retail units, including Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, Distribution Centers and Sam’s Clubs. Our more than 170,000 associates in the state serve Texans in rural, suburban and urban markets. Their dedication as essential workers in hundreds of Texas communities during the pandemic, and beyond, embodied Walmart’s commitment to our customers and the communities we serve.

Additionally, Texas is home to more than 3,500 crucial suppliers that provide the products that our customers need every day. Walmart’s purchases of Texas suppliers’ products exceeded $76 billion in the last fiscal year. Moreover, the company donated $129 million in in-kind food and goods, and grants dedicated to state nonprofit organizations.  

Learn more about Walmart’s conservation and sustainability efforts here.

[1] Total Annual Fiscal Revenues correspond with the Total Revenues results in the Walmart Annual Reports. 

[2] Operational Carbon Emissions correspond to the Total Annual Scopes 1 and 2 GHG emissions results Walmart discloses in response to the annual CDP Climate Change questionnaire and can be downloaded from the CDP website. The methodology is in accordance with the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, meaning Walmart uses the latest available emissions factors for energy grids at the time of annual reporting to CDP. As a result, emissions reported to CDP in any given year are subject to the grid factors available in the year of reporting. Lucideon CICS independently verified Walmart’s reported Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, pursuant to ISO 14064-3 (the international standard for verification of GHG inventories). For more details, please refer to Walmart’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory Methodology attached to Walmart’s CDP disclosures. 

[3] This includes generation from active or under development renewable and low-carbon projects. It considers the combined contribution of the renewable energy credits and power generated from on-site and off-site projects as well as renewable energy that we receive from utility-owned renewable generation feeding into the grids where our sites are located. Third-party-verified energy consumption data is one year in arears (for example for FY2020, we used CY19 energy consumption). This was used in combination with the electricity procured from our renewable energy projects in 2019 and the most recent grid fuel mix information obtained from the International Energy Agency for the regions where we operate.

[4] Meeting or exceeding Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA) business recognition program requirements, which include adoption of ZWIA definition of zero waste and achievement of 90% or more diversion of all discarded resources from landfills, incinerators and the environment. We measure reductions in food waste through use of the following: Measurement metric = total weight of non-diverted food in pounds (i.e., landfill and controlled combustion without energy recovery) / total weight of all food sold in pounds. Zero waste goal and reporting scope includes waste materials and products generated in Walmart’s owned facilities and its operations (stores, clubs, warehouses, return centers, truck maintenance garages, etc.).

[5] Walmart private brand suppliers representing 81% of Walmart global private brand net sales reported packaging data. The calculation includes all private brand primary plastic packaging and single-use plastic and reusable plastic bags globally. For the time frame of the private brands packaging survey, we instructed suppliers to use their latest or most recent 12-month period for which they have data available. If they reported last year, use the same reporting period as the initial/prior reporting year to avoid gaps or overlap with the prior year’s submissions. Because of the sale of Walmart’s Argentina business in late 2020, we were unable to capture sufficient packaging data for the Argentina market. To represent this market’s business, we used the 2018-2019 private brand packaging survey for Argentina.

[6] Global plastic total includes CY2019 totals for Argentina as the market’s CY2020 data was not available.

Definitions:

• Scope 1 emissions: emissions produced and controlled directly by the company/organization
• Scope 2 emissions: indirect emissions that are controlled by the company/organization 
• Scope 3 emissions: emissions from sources not owned or controlled by an organization, but related to their operations
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG): a byproduct of manufacturing, power production, transportation, and other sources that causes the Earth’s atmosphere to retain more heat. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, and fluorinated gases among others.
• MMT: million metric ton; 1,000,000,000 kilograms