Sustainability In Warehouse Group - A Sustainable Retailer Essay.

Discussion

The warehouse group which is also regarded as TWG, was inaugurated in the year 1982 by Stephen Tindall and is observed to be biggest retail group that carries out its operations in New Zealand. TWG is the group which incorporates 1-day, The Market, Warehouse stationery, the warehouse, Noel Leeming, and Torpodo7 (McGregor & Davis-Tana, 2017). This company belongs to the retail industry. This company employs about 12000 workforce. It is generally the discount departmental store retailer with about 257 stores situated across New Zealand (Parsons & Wilkinson, 2015). This corporation apportions its overall operations into 5 distinct business segments. The warehouse has 92 stores and it is the biggest merchandise retailer of New Zealand. This firm not only offer different brands but also its respective goods under its brand. Noel Leeming has 74 stores that offers home appliance and consumer electronics products. Warehouse stationery has 71 stores that provides cleaning supplies, stationery packaging, office furniture, stationery, accessories and computers. The Market is the online retailing brand which emphasizes on the lifestyle themed goods. 1-day is the shopping website which sells 3 deals each day for 24 hour time period. Torpedo7 has 20 stores which operates digital and via retail stores. The firm supplies sports and outdoor equipment, accessories, and clothing via its subsidiary.

Sustainability can be defined as the capacity to sustain or assist the procedure constantly during the time. It is the normative concept which emphasises on intergenerational equity and is usually regarded to have 3 pillars (Ives et al., 2018). The 3 key pillars of sustainability are social, environmental and economic (Mulligan, 2017). Informally, these pillars are regarded as profits, planet and people. This group desires to be the most effective and sustainable retailer of New Zealand and is executing initiative in 3 focus aspects which are generally the 3 key pillars. This brand provides more than 11500 goods with sustainable characteristics which is above from 6000 year ago. This brand is operating with certain community firms like Women’s refuge, Plunket and Salvation Army and obtaining leadership position on problems like decreasing family violence, encouraging diversity, period poverty and enabling to provide 100 of the vulnerable kiwi kids with much required school basics. Moreover, during the financial year 2021, this group introduced board committee that look after its governance of sustainability, social and environmental problems. The firm attained the status of carbon zero in the year 2019 and right from time, its founder started the 1^st warehouse store in the year 1982, and it has vibrant and robust emphasis on the sustainability. This board is generally devoted to executing and determining the ways in which it can satisfy its overall obligations to the stakeholders as higher expectations and a need for more transparency and clarity around the ESG (environmental and social governance) unfold. This group carries out certain SDG goals as well namely Goal 3 and goal 13. Sustainability development goals are the set of seventeen interconnected international goals fabricated to be the overall blueprint to attain effective and more ethical or sustainable future for every person (Barbier & Burgess, 2017). These goals were established by the general assembly of United Nations and are usually intended to be attained by the year 2030 (Hák et al., 2016). The group follows goal 3 which deals with good health and wellbeing that is ensuring healthy lives and encouraging wellbeing for every person at all ages (Wackernagel et al. 2017). This group have being consistently assisting the members via uncertain situation of coronavirus with additional access to the employees support like digital support programmes, counselling and information. Through its participation in government coronavirus organisation vaccination pilot, it also provide its employees access to the coronavirus vaccination at its workplace.  The company implemented 5 ways towards the health and wellbeing of the employee’s initiatives and programs which give, keep learning, be proactive, connect and take adequate notice.  This incorporates activities like yoga sessions, mindfulness and other recent wellbeing initiatives, thought ideas and outlets so as to be encourage and enable its employee’s wellbeing and health. This company also has a plan to start the partnership with the latest employee support programme and the wellbeing provider that would provide the members the opportunity to get help and support via the online portal which incorporates the digital chat function with assistance services, one-to-one support and phone and various self-assistance options.

Conclusion

This company is also following goal 13 of the UN sustainable development goals which deals with climate action. In the year 2020, this company was awarded A score by carbon disclosure project itself in the top leadership group and accepting that it is executing recent effective practices in a war against the climate change. The climate action of this group deals with 3 major aspects which are discussed below:

• Carbon neutrality via its continuing commitment towards Toitu Envirocare carbon zero initiative: Since the year 2019, it has willingly offset 100 per cent of its overall group carb emissions every year by significantly investing in the clean administration mechanism projects, gold standard, assisting the societies in which it carries out its overall operation incorporating China and India. In the financial year 2021, this group also counterbalance 13000 tonnes of the emission through PEST (Permanent forestry sink initiative) project of New Zealand. It’s yearly reporting related to carbon emission follows the firmest audit standards of its reporting partner that is Toitu Envirocare. Its overall reduction goals adhere to the Climate leaders coalition commitments of the New Zealand that demonstrate the directions related to Paris agreement. This group is qualified as per the ISO 14064-1:2006.
• Emission minimisation via continuous execution of its vigorous emission minimisation programme. This incorporates the continuance of transitioning its light weight commercial vehicle fleet to the EV (electric vehicles), update of the LED lightening in its stores, reducing waste related to operations and guiding waste to the methane seizes landfill activities. Such initiatives have leaded to total minimisation of energy consumption of 6.4 per cent against the financial year 2019. In the financial year 2021, scope 1 and 2 emission of the group enhanced by 5 per cent and overall emission enhanced by 1.8 per cent in comparison to the financial year 2020. It was also expected comparative period incorporated the 7 week lockdown for coronavirus. In the financial year 2021, it observed minimisation in the scope 1 and 2 emission of about 2.7 per cent and overall emission minimisation of 6.4 per cent in comparison to the financial year 2019. The greenhouse gas emission intensity ratio of this group was about 10.74 overall gross GHG emission per earnings in the financial year 2021, a minimisation of 5.4 per cent in comparison to the financial year 2020 and 25.3 per cent in comparison to its initial year of the financial year 2015.
• Climate action leadership via collaboration with the sector incorporating with the government agencies and freight partners. In collaboration with the EECA (Energy efficiency & conservation authority, it launched its 1^st fleet of the home delivery EV trucks in the Tauranga, Hamilton, Christchurch, and Auckland in this year. This group is also evaluating the overall viability and effectiveness of long-haul hydrogen fuel transportation and have the roadmap for the solar generation on its property rooftops.

Such programs would deliver meaningful decrease in emission for its business and societies it serve. This group also surveyed its overall private label producers on broad variety of the sustainability competencies incorporating data and practices with regards to Science depended goals and GHG emissions.  Such survey in 1^st step of broad supply chain commitment initiative and will communicate its upcoming approach to affecting the decrease of such significant source of the carbon emissions in its value chain.

It is recommended that FPI Ltd can invest in this selected corporation namely the Warehouse group. It is seen that this selected company has been significantly deploying the two SDG goals and providing its contribution to sustainability. This group understands the significance of such sustainability and takes it as its key responsibility towards all its stakeholders. The company’s sustainability plan adhere to the sustainability development goals laid down by the United Nations. In addition to that, it was also observed that this group also understand the 3 key aspects of the sustainability and has taken all necessary steps so as that it can satisfy them. This proves that the company is carrying out its operations sustainably and working effectively towards reducing its overall effect on planet, people and profit. Therefore, the given company FPI can make sustainable or ethical investment in the Warehouse group because it is a sustainable group.

Conclusion:

From the above discussion, it can be concluded that the sustainability has been significantly implemented in the Warehouse group and according to the UN sustainability goals and the three aspects of sustainability. It was known that this group is adhering to the Goal 13 and 3 of sustainability development goals of the United Nations. It was recommended to the given investment company of Australia that is FPI could make a sustainable investment in this firm as it had proved itself to be a sustainable group by complying with certain SDG goals of the United Nations. 

References:           

Barbier, E. B., & Burgess, J. C. (2017). The Sustainable Development Goals and the systems approach to sustainability. Economics, 11(1).

Hák, T., Janoušková, S., & Moldan, B. (2016). Sustainable Development Goals: A need for relevant indicators. Ecological indicators, 60, 565-573.

Ives, C. D., Abson, D. J., Von Wehrden, H., Dorninger, C., Klaniecki, K., & Fischer, J. (2018). Reconnecting with nature for sustainability. Sustainability science, 13(5), 1389-1397.

McGregor, J., & Davis-Tana, S. (2017). New zealand census of women on boards, 2017. AUT University.

Mulligan, M. (2017). Introduction to Sustainability. Taylor & Francis.

Parsons, A., & Wilkinson, H. (2015). Retailing in New Zealand: Where Are We and Where To Next?. In European Retail Research (pp. 141-160). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.

Wackernagel, M., Hanscom, L., & Lin, D. (2017). Making the sustainable development goals consistent with sustainability. Frontiers in Energy Research, 5, 18.