Co-op pledges to stand firm on climate, opportunity and community as others scale back

04 August 2025

• 37,000 members shared their views on climate, opportunity and community

• Only 1 in 5 members feel optimistic about the country’s future, with rising concern about inequality and division

• Co-op commits to long term action on net zero, fair access to work, and stronger, safer communities

As political and public debate grows around the need to rebuild social cohesion and restore fairness in the UK’s most deprived communities, Co-op has today announced a new strategy to deliver social value across every part of its business.

The move, informed by its 6.5 million members, reaffirms Co-op’s commitment to speaking up and speaking out on the issues that matter most to its members and communities – from climate change and sustainability to social mobility and diversity and inclusion. At a time when powerful voices are encouraging business to scale back on social commitments, Co-op is choosing to push forward – guided by what its members say matters most.

In a major survey into the issues facing people and society today, carried out with over 37,000 members, the findings highlight over three quarters (78%) feel many people don’t have equal access to the resources they need to thrive. Over four fifths (83%) agreed that the gap between rich and poor is growing, and a similar number (79%) believe that society is more divided than 10 years ago. Only a minority of members (19%) felt optimistic about the future of the country.

Top 10 Co-op Member Concerns**

1. Cost of Living
2. Healthcare
3. Environment & Climate
4. Global Conflict
5. Cuts to local services
6. Social care
7. Prospects for the younger generation
8. Political instability and extremism
9. Economic instability
10. Rising cost of renting

This insight helped shape the focus of the strategy in three key areas - access to opportunity, access to a sustainable future and access to peace of mind and wellbeing. These pillars reflect Co-op’s approach to long-term value – putting member priorities into action through the way the business operates and grows.

Shirine Khoury-Haq, Co-op Group CEO, said: “We’re living in a world where powerful voices are actively encouraging businesses to row back on their social value commitments. In the pursuit of short-term profit opportunities, some other businesses are choosing to scale back or water down their social value work, shutting the door on progress for the future. As a co-operative, owned by our members, we’re choosing to step further forwards, choosing to speak up and speak out, to be a voice for positive change when it matters most.

“As debates grow around how to strengthen the social fabric of the UK, this strategy shows how Co-op is playing its part. It is grounded in what our members told us – to focus on opportunity, sustainability and community cohesion. That’s exactly what we’re going to do.
“As a member-owned business, we’re here to act. Whether it’s helping young people into work, backing grassroots projects, or tackling root causes of harm like cybercrime, this is about long-term impact. It will shape how we grow, how we lead, and how we deliver value for our members every day.”

The strategy focuses on three key areas that members told Co-op matter most: access to opportunity, access to a sustainable future, and access to peace of mind and wellbeing. Access to opportunity means helping more people into education, skills and good work – especially where chances are hardest to find. Co-op is strengthening its long-term diversity and inclusion goals and backing new routes into ethical work, including a partnership with The Hacking Games to identify young cyber talent and channel it into positive futures.

Access to a sustainable future is about staying the course on net zero, even as others pull back. Co-op is continuing to back science-based targets and long-term action, supporting members and communities to reduce their impact and making progress in a way that’s practical, fair and transparent.

Access to peace of mind and wellbeing is about building stronger, safer communities – locally and globally. From investing in community resilience to taking a stand on human rights, including a new sourcing policy that cuts ties with countries linked to major human rights abuses, Co-op is focused on driving fairness and cohesion where it’s needed most.

The three pillars are supported by an extensive range of commitments designed to benefit both members and society. Co-op will continue to develop new goals, projects and initiatives based on ongoing member feedback – who are invited to take part: https://joinin.coop.co.uk/opportunities/783

ENDS

About the research

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from Co-op’s own Big Survey, completed by 37,610 Co-op members between March and May 2025. Responses have been weighted by age to ensure the data is representative of Co-op’s membership.

*19% of Co-op Members agreed with the statement: ‘Optimistic about the future of our country’ when asked ‘Please tell us how strongly you agree or disagree with the following statements about life in Britain today’.

** Sourced from additional Co-op Member Insights, completed in December 2024

The three pillars are supported by an extensive range of commitments designed to benefit both members and society:

Access to opportunity

• Strengthened diversity and inclusion goals: ethnic minority senior leader representation to reach 14 per cent by 2027 and 16 per cent by 2030 – a 40 per cent uplift on previous goals – and women in senior leadership to reach 48 per cent by 2027 and 50 per cent by 2030

• Continued commitment as the only retailer to produce a combined intersectional annual pay gap reporting across gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic background and disability

• Championing of apprenticeships and opportunity through the Co-op Levy share, which has seen £38.2m in pledges and has funded over 3,500 apprentices from diverse backgrounds.

o Partnerships with The Royal Foundation's Business Taskforce for Early Childhood to create over 600 apprenticeships in the early years sector.

o Developed in response to requests from Co-op members to prioritise reducing re-offending and supporting rehabilitation, Co-op has joined forces with City & Guilds Foundation to support a prisoner apprenticeship programme, targeting reoffending whilst addressing the rail industry skills gaps.

• Continuing our work as sponsor of Co-op Academies Trust, supporting over 20,000 students across 38 schools, and widening access to opportunity through the opening of new specialist SEND schools, drawing on co-operative values to drive positive outcomes and experiences

• A growing network of over 90 Co-op Member Activators – colleagues helping bring membership to life by supporting local activities and campaigns on the issues that matter most to members and their communities.

• Support for young people across the UK through Barnardo’s partnership – aiming to raise £7 million to support positive futures for 1 million young people

• The Co-op Foundation, our charity, partners with young people to design funding programmes like the Future Communities Fund, supporting re-engagement of youth involved with the justice system.

• In collaboration with Co-op Wholesale and its partners, Making A Difference Locally (MADL) provides financial support to various UK communities by funding local initiatives and promoting social responsibility. Each year, over £1 million is donated to charity, and Wholesale has established a role focused on advancing these efforts, integrating social value considerations into its partnerships.

Access to sustainable future

• First convenience retailer to have its net zero targets validated by the globally recognised Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), with commitment to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 66% by 2030 from a 2016 base year, and reduce absolute Scope 3 emissions by 48% by 2030 from a 2016 base year

• Ongoing leading Climate Justice campaign calling for Government, business and member action on climate justice

• As part of our partnership with The One Foundation, we invest directly in water security programmes. Since 2007 we’ve raised over £21 million to deliver safe water and improved sanitation to communities around the world, changing the lives of more than 3.2 million people

• Partnership with RSPB to restore peatland in the UK, bringing vital peatland back into good condition to reduce carbon loss, and help to tackle climate change and protect nature

• Climate resilience and adaptation programme investment supporting at-risk communities in our Fairtrade supply chains. So far, we have supported over 19,000 producers in Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda

• Re-launched Co-op Power to leverage the organisation’s buying strength, enabling Co-op and like-minded businesses to access affordable, green energy through an ethical and sustainable procurement mode.

• Long-term investment of British agriculture through 100% fresh and frozen protein own-brand sourcing commitment, supporting and rewarding UK farmers for sustainable farming efforts, and improving animal welfare.

• In addition, we remain committed to our targets to reduce food waste and plastic packing, sustainably source our ingredients, Fairtrade and water security programmes, and championing the best labour standards across our supply chains.

Access to peace of mind and wellbeing 

• We’re championing the role of high streets in building stronger, safer communities - continuing to advocate for investment, fairness and access in the places where our members live and work.

• We’re backing our Hate Divides, Co-operation Builds campaign – using our voice to show how co-operatives build peace in divided communities and calling on the UK Government to double investment in co-operative development worldwide.

• Continued support for local communities, with £115m shared by over 39,000 grassroots projects across the UK since 2016 through our Co-op Local Community Fund.

• Continuing our leadership on retail crime by working with others to spotlight the organised nature of shop theft, investing in security, and supporting safer, more resilient high streets.

About Co-op

Co-op Group is one of the world’s largest consumer co-operatives, operating across food retail, funerals, insurance, and legal services. Owned by over 6 million active member-owners, Co-op exists to meet their needs and champion the causes they care about.

With more than 2,300 food stores, 800 funeral homes and a wholesale business supplying around 6,000 additional outlets, Co-op employs 54,000 colleagues and generates annual revenues of over £11 billion. It is a recognised leader in ethical business and community-led programmes, creating long-term value for members and communities across the UK.