Image via Ikea
Climate Week 2017 marked the launch of EV100, a global campaign to commit businesses to switching to electric means of transportation. The first ten members were announced including Baidu, Deutsche Post DHL Group, Heathrow Airport, HP Inc., IKEA Group, LeasePlan, METRO AG, PG&E, Unilever, Vattenfall.To celebrate this step, VICE Impact, Formula E and The Climate Group organized an event called Velocity that gathered elected officials, business leaders, and activists to share their vision on how to accelerate climate action.VICE impact met with a few of those officials, leaders, and activists to talk about the importance of Climate Week and EV100.Today, in the last installment, we chat with Pia Heidenmark Cook, the Chief Sustainability Officer of Ikea Group.
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VICE Impact: Why was it important for Ikea to come to Climate Week ?Pia Heidenmark Cook: Climate Week NYC is a great opportunity for us to connect with future-minded businesses and partners. The business voice for climate action is growing stronger and we see more and more companies joining initiatives such as RE100 and EV100, showing that taking climate action is the right thing to do, for business and for the planet.What does your commitment to EV 100 entail?We want to help EV uptake and support customers to transition to EVs by offering charging stations in our stores. To date, we have charging stations in over half of our stores worldwide. We also ensure millions of home deliveries of IKEA products every year, and working with service providers to enable the shift to EV and ensure resonance and impact, not only by the carbon emissions avoided, but through reducing air and noise pollution around our stores as well.Joining EV is both about contributing to the transition to a low-carbon economy and about acting as a good neighbor.What is Ikea doing to address the company's sustainability record?Sustainability is a driver for innovation and renewal. We want to inspire and enable millions of customers to live a more sustainable life by saving energy and water and reducing waste. For example, our entire lighting range is now LED that use up to 85 percent less energy and last up to 20 times longer than incandescent bulbs. This is helping many millions of households save off their energy bills.By 2020, we aim to produce as much renewable energy as the energy we use in our operations . We have committed to own and operate 415 wind turbines, and have installed 730,000 solar panels on our buildings. All cotton used in IKEA products come from more sustainable sources, and for wood, the goal is to reach 100 percent FSC certified or recycled material by 2020.Learn more about how to support the work of the Climate Group. If you want to support renewable energy in your hometown, support the Sierra Cub's Ready for 100 campaign.This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.