How Kingfisher is driving sustainable supplier engagement

To prevent the impact of climate change, businesses are taking action to reduce emissions within their operations and supply chains. At Kingfisher, the international home improvement retailer whose businesses include B&Q, Screwfix, Castorama, and Brico Dépôt, climate action is a strategic priority.

Having set ambitious targets to reduce Scope 1, 2 emissions (2016/17 baseline), and Scope 3 emissions from a 2017/18 baseline, Kingfisher partnered with Manufacture 2030 (M2030) to accelerate climate action and reduce supply chain carbon emissions at scale.

Taking action to protect the planet

Learning from and building on a foundation of environmental activities throughout its supply chain, Kingfisher needed a solution that would scale climate action across its whole supplier base. The company sought to enable consistency and understanding of data, management of climate actions, and visibility over impact reduction efforts.

Laurence Turnbull, Sustainability Manager at Kingfisher, explained:

“In working to deliver our 2025/26 Scope 3 carbon target and build a program to enable future carbon reductions, we looked for a solution that would support our suppliers, a key part of our Scope 3 emissions, to help in understanding their carbon footprint and to create climate action plans.”

Following a tender process, Kingfisher chose M2030 as the platform that offered the necessary tools, resources, and visibility to manage a global supplier base on carbon reduction.

Supporting suppliers in emission reductions

Since partnering with M2030 in 2022, Kingfisher has engaged hundreds of suppliers through campaigns, webinars, and educational content. These initiatives equip suppliers with the knowledge to adopt environmental practices. The carbon reduction platform gives access to hundreds of best practice actions, enabling suppliers to build and implement carbon reduction plans across their facilities.

“M2030’s capabilities allow us to engage and manage many suppliers at once, running campaigns and providing the necessary support to our suppliers globally.”

“And we learn. Each discussion brings new information and ideas that you can use to improve the process and allows us to share best practice.”

Collective action across retail banners

Kingfisher operates in seven countries across Europe under different retail banners. These include B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt, and Screwfix. For a consistent approach to reduce carbon emissions, Kingfisher is expanding its work with M2030 across  multiple retail banners.

“Partnering with M2030 enables us to have one place for our suppliers’ supply chain emissions data, and the ability to forecast emission reductions. We plan to use the solution across Kingfisher, with phased onboarding of our retail banners over time.”

By implementing a single solution across its retail banners, Kingfisher can collaborate more efficiently across its entire supply chain. With many suppliers supporting multiple Kingfisher retail banners, the use of one platform helps save time and resource, enabling them to focus on driving carbon reductions. 

Evolving methodology for measuring product data

Product carbon inventory

In 2023, Kingfisher developed a product carbon inventory with M2030 and Ricardo, generating an updated baseline carbon figure to base future programs on.

As a result, Kingfisher has gained a better understanding of carbon hotspots and supplier emissions, using a product hierarchy aligned with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol for Category 1 and Category 11. “A robust baseline has been key for us in progressing our Scope 3 program, and to make sure we could drive action at scale across our whole supplier base.”

Understanding the reliability of product data

Following this work, Kingfisher ran a pilot program with its  worktop suppliers to understand the quality and the reliability of data in Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).

Worktops were selected for the pilot because they offered a straightforward product range and manageable supplier base, making it easier to compare volumes and manufacturing processes.

Suppliers shared their EPDs on the M2030 platform, which were then assessed for content and data quality. “Through the pilot, we wanted to understand the quality of the data within the EPDs and then how we could use this information to further inform our carbon data model. Not only was the output insightful, but it also reinforced the importance of consistent methodology, helping to align everyone as they are at different points in the journey.”

The data collected during the pilot helped inform Kingfisher’s plans for engaging their suppliers and collecting product-level data.

Evolving model to measure and reduce product carbon footprints

Kingfisher is working to understand how supplier led data can serve to improve its carbon footprint data, using EPDs and other product level emissions information.

Kingfisher is also helping to shape M2030's Product Carbon Footprint solution. Released in Q4 2024, this product will enable suppliers to generate Product Carbon Footprints, share these with Kingfisher, and take action to reduce product carbon emissions.

“We are on our journey with our suppliers. It is key we work collaboratively with them, ensuring they deliver climate plans consistently. We want to give every supplier the opportunity to understand their carbon footprint and develop programs to decarbonize.”