Dutch and German supermarkets lead on sustainability, but fail to significantly reduce emissions – report
Clean Energy Wire
Supermarket chains in the Netherlands and Germany are setting the pace in Europe’s transition toward sustainable food systems, showed a European ranking by Dutch think tank Questionmark. German discounter Lidl (in the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Spain) and Dutch supermarkets Albert Heijn and Jumbo had the highest scores both in terms of climate plans and efforts to shift protein sales toward plant-rich diets.
The report showed that more supermarkets in Europe are developing detailed climate roadmaps to support reaching the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. However, none of the supermarkets in the ranking have shown strong emissions reductions so far, and more action remains necessary. Additionally, there are significant differences among European supermarkets in terms of sustainability efforts, with the emissions of many supermarkets still increasing rather than going down, the researchers said.
The ranking of 27 supermarket chains in eight different countries is based on the roadmaps that the retailers have for reducing emissions, and on their sales volumes of plant-based protein. The latter was considered an important indicator, as the transition to more plant-based protein products is seen as essential to lowering indirect emissions from food suppliers, the think tank said. Both of these sustainability indicators were assessed based on the observable level of ambition and transparency, it added.
As more and more companies make pledges to reach net-zero emissions, it can be difficult to distinguish real ambition from greenwashing. Many pledges are devoid of clear pathways to decarbonisation, and commitments often are little more than vague declarations of intent. Other plans hide huge chunks of a company’s CO2 emissions, or rely on uncertain promises to compensate continued emissions, while lacking efforts to directly reduce fossil fuel use. According to an analysis of company plans by Germany-based NewClimate Institute and Carbon Market Watch from 2025, many global corporations like carmakers, food companies and tech giants are still failing to present credible corporate climate strategies.