Access to a sustainable future
Supporting members and communities to reduce their environmental impact, while cutting Co-op’s own carbon footprint.
We're co-operating to:
• Reduce our environmental impact and protect & restore nature
• Take action on climate justice
• Source responsibly and build resilient, inclusive supply chains
• Support people in making healthy and sustainable choices
Some 2025 highlights
Reduce our environmental impact and protect & restore nature
Climate change
We opened two Sustainability Showcase stores in 2025 to test changes aimed at reducing our energy use and operational carbon emissions, and to share some of the practical steps we’re taking as we work towards Net Zero operations by 2035.
Download the 'Climate change' section (PDF, 721.62KB)
Resource use
This year, we removed 230 tonnes of plastic packaging through plastic reduction projects.
We redistributed over 7,000 tonnes of food in 2025 (nearly 1,000 tonnes more than last year), enough to provide the equivalent of 16.7m meals.
Download the 'Resource use' section of the report (PDF, 874.49KB)
Nature
£2m contributed to date in partnership with RSPB to support the restoration of UK peatlands.
Download the 'Nature' section of the report (PDF, 767.70KB)
Water security
£707,000 of Co-op funding was deployed to water, sanitation and hygiene programmes with Water Unite in 2025, reaching 8,762 beneficiaries.
Download the 'Water security' section of the report (PDF, 760.53)
Take action on climate justice
We’ve been campaigning for a faster, fairer transition to Net Zero since 2021, building on Co-op’s long history of acting in response to the climate crisis.
Our member owners have been central to our Climate Justice campaign throughout 2025, contributing over 33,000 Join In engagements.
Source responsibly and build resilient, inclusive supply chains
Ethical trade and human rights
We reached 3,717 delegates in 155 events through our global supplier engagement programme in 2025
Fairtrade
In 2025 we continued to be a fairtrade leader in the UK. We sell more Fairtrade flowers and wine than any other UK grocery retailer.
Download the 'Ethical trade and human rights & Fairtrade' section of the report (PDF, 881.96KB)
Sustainable sourcing
Since 2019, we’ve partnered with Chester Zoo and HUTAN to restore former palm oil plantations in the Kinabatangan region of Malaysian Borneo.
By April 2025, 71,000 trees had been planted across the project with Co-op directly funding the planting of 30,000.
Download the 'Sustainable sourcing' section of the report (PDF, 959.51KB)
Farming & fisheries
We launched a new fund to help farmers adopt sustainable agricultural practices, supporting them in reducing emissions and promoting nature on their farms.
By the end of the year, we provided £760,000 of funding to British farmers in our supply chain.
Download the 'Farming & fisheries' section of the report (PDF, 959.51KB)
Responsible procurement
We achieved GOLD EcoVadis medal for sustainability performance, placing Co-op among the top 5% of companies assessed globally.
Download the 'Responsible procurement' section of the report (PDF, 559.65KB)
Support people in making healthy and sustainable choices
In 2025, 75% of our Co-op own brand food and drink sales (tonnes) from non-HFSS products (excluding alcohol and non-food).
Download the 'Healthy and sustainable diets' section of the report (PDF, 702.19KB)
