The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people, and we believe those lives are truly better when they’re lived sustainably. For us, it’s about balancing economic growth and positive social impact with environmental protection and renewal. So, our mission overall is to meet the needs of people today without compromising the needs of future generations.
This means rethinking and inspiring changes in lifestyle and consumption, as well as adopting new ways of working. Because the more people we reach, the bigger impact we have in helping the many create a better everyday life.
People and Planet Positive
We have identified three major challenges impacting our business:
Climate change: No longer a distant threat, but a visible reality, we believe that the climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity.
Unsustainable consumption: In a world that already uses resources requiring more than one planet, billions of new consumers put an even greater pressure on the planet. .
Inequality: Every year, people move out of poverty, while others tragically fall back into it.There is also an ever increasing level of inequality in the world with a widening gap between the wealthiest in society and the rest. Gender equality is far from a reality, and many people are still denied basic rights and equal opportunities.
As a response to these three challenges, we’ve identified three corresponding focus areas to help us fulfil the IKEA vision and become people and planet positive:
healthy and sustainable living
circular and climate positive
fair and equal
Healthy and sustainable living
The way we live at home has a big impact on the planet and our health. Many people want to make healthier and more sustainable choices – but not at the expense of price, quality or convenience. With our size and reach, we have a big opportunity to make healthier and more sustainable living affordable and accessible to people around the world. By promoting sustainable home furnishing and food products, services, life-at-home knowledge, and inspiration, we can make healthier and more sustainable living possible for the many people. To achieve this, we actively listen to people in each of our markets and work together with others to create meaningful connections and experiences.
By 2030 our ambition is to inspire and enable 1 billion people to live a better everyday life within the limits of the planet.
With clean energy services like home solar and electricity subscriptions, we’re making it easier and more affordable for our customers to use and produce renewable energy. This is an important contribution towards supporting the transition to a net zero society. Our clean energy services are now available in several countries, where we offer home solar, battery storage systems and an electricity subscription service using solar and wind. Read more about our energy efforts and our performance in FY22.
By testing new circular services, we’re exploring ways to prolong the life of our products, give customers access to furniture without owning it, and help people give products they no longer need a second life. We have implemented 170 circular hubs in 26 markets and offer spare parts helping customers prolong the life of their IKEA products. We are also testing furniture subscriptions and an IKEA second hand store offering only secondhand IKEA products. Read about our progress in FY22 on enabling more circular consumption.
We are one of the largest food businesses in the world, serving millions of food customers every year. By promoting tasty, affordable plant-based food options, we make it easier for more people to try, enjoy and afford healthier and more sustainable food. In FY21 we launched the plant-based mince VÄRLDSKLOK in 26 markets and our popular HUVUDROLL plant ball is now available in all our 32 markets. Read more about how we make our food range healthier and better for the planet, and our progress against the goals.
Circular and climate positive
The world is facing a climate crisis that will affect the lives of many millions of people today and for generations to come. Human activities have warmed the planet’s average temperature by more than 1°C, and we’re still using resources at a rate equivalent more than one Earths per year*. With 1 million species at risk of extinction, we’re on course for irrevocable damage to nature and ecosystems.
We know we have a huge responsibility – and opportunity – to tackle the climate crisis and we want to be a part of shaping a new normal that’s better for people and planet. We are committed to the shared IKEA goal of becoming a climate positive business by 2030 – while still growing our business. We are also committed to the Paris Agreement and to limiting global temperature rises to 1.5°C.
There are some existing solutions to the climate crisis already, but they urgently need to be deployed on a massive scale and more innovative solutions need to be found. This can offer new opportunities for job creation, innovation, economic growth and reduced energy costs. And, we know it’s possible for businesses to grow while shrinking the climate footprint. During the period FY16-FY21, the Ingka Group business grew by 17.6%, and yet we also achieved a 6.5% climate footprint reduction over the same period.
By 2030 our ambition is to become circular and climate positive.
We are committed to the Paris Agreement and to contribute to limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. This includes a commitment to reducing absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the value chain by at least 50% by 2030, compared to a 2016 baseline, and to reach net-zero emissions by the latest 2050 without using carbon offsets. In addition, to become climate positive, we will remove and store carbon through forestry and agriculture along with contributing to additional reductions in society by going beyond our value chain.**
We are reducing the climate footprint from our operations, customer and co-worker travel and home deliveries. We are switching to renewable energy and aim for all home deliveries to be made using zero emissions vehicles by 2025. We are contributing to a reduction in the climate footprint of IKEA products and food, e.g. by promoting IKEA products, food and services that have a lower climate footprint.
We are also going beyond the IKEA value chain. For example, with our energy services like home solar and clean electricity subscriptions, we’re making it easier and more affordable for our customers to use and produce renewable energy. Read more about our climate footprint and our work to become climate positive.
Using resources efficiently has always been part of how we work at IKEA. We want to play our part in making the circular economy a reality, and IKEA is committed to becoming a circular business by 2030. We strive for zero waste in our operations, we strive to recycle even more of our waste and we provide new circular services and offers to enable our customers reuse and repair products. Read more about our efforts to become a circular business by 2030.
**Ingka Group follows the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) established target-setting process to commit to and set science-based targets. We first set climate SBT’s in 2018 and updated our targets in 2023 in alignment with the Net-Zero Standard and have submitted these to SBTi for approval in November 2023 – they are now under review. Under the IKEA brand there are several entities, therefore Ingka Group and Inter IKEA have set climate science-based targets and report on these separately. Ingka’s SBT cover scope 1,2 and 3 emissions from Retail (as the biggest IKEA franchisee), Ingka Investment and Ingka Centres.
It’s part of our mission to ensure we put people at the heart of our business. We’re present in many communities, and when those communities thrive, we do too. We recognise the challenges people are facing and the rapid changes in our communities – particularly where rights and opportunities are far from equal.
Guided by our values, we want to create lasting positive change in the communities where we are present. This means creating a fairer and more equal society, by growing our business in a fair and inclusive way.
Fair and equal growth leads to motivated co-workers, innovative meeting places, and resilient and empowered communities.
By 2030 our ambition is to improve the well-being of millions of people by becoming a truly people-centred company and employer.
We are committed to promoting and supporting a world where human rights are a reality for all. We put respect for human rights at the heart of our business, integrating it into our strategies, policies and processes. Our respect for human rights covers our co-workers, customers, workers in our supply chain and our neighbours – in fact, everyone our business touches. Read more about our performance and our policy on human rights.
The safety and wellbeing of our co-workers is our top priority. We work to ensure a safe and healthy work environment for everyone, and we support our co-workers in staying healthy, in feeling connected with colleagues and in maintaining their work-life balance. We celebrate diversity and together we will create a workplace that is as diverse as the world is, and as inclusive as the world should be. Read about how we work to create better lives for our co-workers.
We want to create a positive impact for the neighbourhoods where we operate. For years, we’ve worked in partnerships with community organisations to find solutions to local social and environmental challenges, and to have a lasting positive impact on our communities. In FY21 we were able to support more than 1 million people experiencing social exclusion and poverty. We also welcomed 802 refugees into our workplaces. Read more about our initiatives during FY22 and our ambition to be a good neighbour.
Our Approach to Human Rights
The Ingka Group Policy on Human Rights and Equality is the basis of our approach. We are also guided by the IKEA Employment Standards, our Code of Conduct and IWAY – the IKEA supplier code of conduct.
Potential human rights risks
We aim to focus on the most salient human rights impacts – those at risk of the most severe negative impacts. We have identified a range of potential human rights risks for our industry, including modern slavery and forced labour, low wages, undocumented cash wages, excessive hours, unsafe working conditions, and threats to freedom of association rights. Assessing the human rights impacts of our business activities is an ongoing process and we are continually learning and developing our approach. We know there is always more we can do to ensure respect for human rights across our business and throughout our value chain.
Due diligence
The IWAY System is designed to ensure that sustainability impacts, including human rights risks, are identified before supply agreements are entered into and then continuously identified, monitored, and managed over time. As part of the selection process, potential suppliers undergo a risk assessment which covers human rights aspects such as workplace health and safety, wages and working hours. Other human rights risks are picked up via the Ingka Group risk management process.
Remediation
Our approach to remediation, including which impacts we prioritise for remediation, depends on how we are connected to the impact and its nature and severity. We take seriously our responsibility to remediate any negative human rights impacts on people, society and the environment that we cause or contribute to. We are reviewing how we provide remedy to affected stakeholders beyond our direct business partners to ensure we align with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Grievance mechanisms
Co-workers who have any human rights concerns can raise them through our internal grievance mechanism, Trustline, In addition, we request all our suppliers, via IWAY, to put a grievance mechanism in place that is known to their workers and enables workers to raise complaints or concerns without fear of retaliation. When requested, we provide guidance and support.
