Best Buy today announced a new goal to reduce carbon emissions 60 percent by 2020.
This follows yesterday’s announcement in which we committed to prepare 1 million underserved teens for tech-reliant jobs each year by 2020. Together, these commitments demonstrate our holistic approach to positively impact people, communities and the environment.
Best Buy’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Laura Bishop, will speak at the annual BSR conference today and connect recent natural disasters to the company’s heightened plans for fast-tracking operational improvements and renewable sourcing.
“After hearing from employees and customers impacted by the recent devastating weather events, we are more motivated than ever to move the needle on climate change,” she said. “We are focused not only on helping customers live more sustainably, but we are constantly pushing ourselves to find new ways to lower our carbon emissions.”
At Best Buy, sustainability has been a priority for nearly a decade. Last year, we exceeded our goal to reduce absolute carbon emissions by 45 percent (over a 2009 baseline). Moving from 45 percent to 60 percent carbon reduction is equivalent to removing 32,000 cars from the road for an entire year.1
Additionally, just this week, we earned a top-ranking A- CDP score for our climate-management strategies and carbon-emissions reduction.
How Best Buy will cut carbon emissions
Our new goal will see emissions reduced through accelerated progress on two sustainable practices:
- Continuing to embrace technology to drive energy-efficient operations. This will make up 40 percent of our carbon reduction.
- Technologies such as LED lighting and updated heating and cooling systems are expected to further reduce carbon emissions in our stores and distribution centers.
- In 2016, we introduced a new Geekmobile fleet comprising more than 1,200 Toyota Prius c hybrids. In just one year, the fleet saved more than 140,000 gallons of gas. We recently added another 300 vehicles to the Prius c lineup for our team of In-Home Advisors. We will continue to pursue even more efficient vehicle options as they become available.
- Placing significantly more focus on securing offsite renewable energy sources and purchasing certified Renewable Energy Credits. This will offset 20 percent of our carbon footprint.
For more information about our sustainability program, visit https://corporate.bestbuy.com/sustainability/ or follow us on Twitter @BestBuyCSR.
1Per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator