At Levi Strauss & Co., we have a steadfast commitment to reducing the environmental impact of our company-operated facilities. That’s why we’ve joined Walmart Inc., Ørsted, Schneider Electric and others in the Gigaton Power Purchasing Agreement (GPPA) with Ørsted’s Sunflower Wind Farm in Marion County, Kansas.
This is a first-of-its-kind initiative that will help us meet our long-term energy goals. It is also an indication of how partnerships are critical to making real progress on initiatives designed to reduce emissions and slow climate change.
In practice, what it means is that we and a number of key Walmart suppliers are coming together to purchase up front a percentage of the renewable energy that will be produced by the Sunflower Wind Farm over the next 12 years, which equates to approximately 250,000 MWh of wind power annually. This helps ensure the long-term viability of the windfarm, which supports the broader wind power industry, and secures a consistent supply of renewable energy that will cover the majority of our electricity needs for our owned-and-operated facilities in the U.S. and Canada for 12 years, beginning in 2024.
The agreement will also accelerate our progress to meet our science-based target to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 90% by 2025*. As of 2021, we’ve achieved an absolute reduction of 66% against our 2016 baseline. With this deal in place, we can anticipate further reductions primarily through a long-term pricing agreement rather than an outsized dependence on market-value renewable energy credits to offset our energy use.
“By working together with other companies on this project, our collective purchasing power is creating a pathway for clean energy,” said Pavan Pamidimarri, senior vice president of finance for operations and sourcing at LS&Co. “This agreement will not only bring an energy alternative to market; it also enables LS&Co. to make an investment that delivers on our commitment to meeting our own goals for renewable energy use in our company-operated facilities.”
Greenhouse gas emissions from our company-operated activities generally fall into the Scope 1 and 2 emissions categories and, collectively, make up less than 1% of our global carbon footprint. We’ve set a goal to achieve 100% renewable electricity in all company-operated facilities by 2025*, compared to our 2016 baseline. We are well on our way to accomplishing this — globally, we’ve already achieved 85% of our goal as of 2021.
“The Sunflower Wind Farm and the GPPA serve as reminders that innovative solutions are available to help companies like LS&Co. — and many others — make progress toward our climate goals,” said Jeffrey Hogue, LS&Co.’s chief sustainability officer. “While our Scope 1 and 2 emissions make up a small portion our overall carbon footprint, it’s critical we continue to leverage creative solutions to achieve our goal in our company-operated facilities.”
*This goal is consistent with limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels.
