Giving Compass' Take:

• TriplePundit takes an inside look at Project Gigaton, a challenge for Walmart's suppliers to collectively cut one gigaton (1 billion metric tons) of greenhouse gas emissions out of their operations by 2030, a steep goal for them. 

• Why is it important for more corporations to try and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions? Will Walmart inspire others to do the same? 

• Read about Walmart's other philanthropic pursuits, such as the campaign for hunger relief. 

Consumer spending drives many of the world’s economies, but not without a huge environmental cost. The global production and use of consumer products – from supplier to retailer to consumer – now accounts for 60 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions and by 2025 will generate 2.2 billion tons of municipal solid waste per year according to estimates from The Sustainability Consortium.

The world’s largest retailer, Walmart, is hoping to reverse these trends. At its April 2017 Sustainability Milestone Summit, the retailer launched Project Gigaton, a challenge to its direct Tier 1 suppliers to collectively cut one gigaton (1 billion metric tons) of greenhouse gas emissions from their operations by 2030.

Most of Walmart’s emissions are produced by its supply chain (so-called indirect or Scope 3 emissions), so this target is significant. It also represents a considerable challenge for Walmart. The company has worked on several green initiatives with its suppliers since it began its own sustainability journey in 2005. But for the most part, Walmart has no direct control over these companies or full visibility into their operations.

To begin, the company teamed with several NGOs, including the World Wildlife Fund and Environmental Defense Fund, to help design and manage the program and to work directly with its suppliers to help them identify key areas of impact and set targets.

Walmart and its NGO partners have also created an online resource center and toolkit. Here, suppliers can join the program, commit to reduction targets, share solutions and lessons learned, access educational resources, and view webinars on a range of topics.

To make the information more accessible, the resources in the toolkit are further subdivided into six key areas of impact, or pillars: Energy, Waste, Packaging, Agriculture, Deforestation, and Product Use.

Read the full article about Project Gigaton by Jim Witkin at TriplePundit