By Anna Ringstrom

STOCKHOLM – IKEA (the world’s most popular furniture manufacturer) said Tuesday that it is on the right track to be climate-positive by 2030, as its annual carbon dioxide emissions dropped 6% from prepandemic levels despite record-breaking sales.

Inter IKEA, the brand owner, said that emissions throughout the value chain (from raw material production to customer use and disposal) totalled 26.2 Million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over the twelve months ending in August. This compares with a revised 27.9million in fiscal 2019, which saw emissions fall for the first-time in a decade.

A company spokesperson stated that the revision was caused by higher emissions from plastics, candles and paper than previously estimated.

When emissions dropped as the stores were temporarily closed because of pandemic, they rose by 6% in fiscal 2020. They are now at an upbeat 24.7 million tonnes CO2 equivalent.

Although the material’s climate impact continued growing, total emission reductions were mainly attributable to increased renewable energy use across operations and greater sales of energy-efficient light bulbs and plant-based food.

Emissions will be reduced in the coming year depending on how these products are sold and the pace of switching to renewable energy. IKEA believes that this year’s footprint will be even larger due to the expansion of its materials.

Jon Abrahamsson, CEO of Inter IKEA was optimistic about IKEA reaching its climate-positive target – which is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than its value-chain emits – by 2030.

We are on the right track, having achieved a third (since 2016 baseline) of our 2030 ambitions. In an interview, he stated that “there are still huge challenges ahead” and that all of our efforts must be directed towards ensuring we maintain a positive trajectory toward this goal.

IKEA’s wood-based products saw an increase in retail sales to 41.9 billion euro ($47.7 Billion) during fiscal 2021 despite disruptions in global supply chains.

It is one of the largest wood buyers in the world, using 21 million cubic meters of wood for products and packaging. This was an increase of around 10% over the previous year.

According to its sustainability report 2021, 99.5% of the wood was responsibly managed. This certification is done by the Forest Stewardship Council. Up from the previous year’s 12%, 14% of wood was recycled.

($1 = 0.8793 euros)