Corporate Partners

© IKEA

As communities look for viable ways to build environmental, social, and economic sustainability, alternative, lower-impact transportation systems must be factored into the solution.

Today, transportation is responsible for 20 to 25 percent of the world’s energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

By creating sustainable transportation options—from making it easier to walk to and from destinations to more efficient public transportation systems to transport-sensitive development—communities can improve people’s access to work, leisure activities, goods and services, and other needs while reducing transportation’s significant carbon footprint.

Many companies want to give their customers and employees more sustainable transportation options and, at the same time, contribute to building sustainable communities.

IKEA and WWF have been working together since 2007 to explore ways to reduce the carbon footprint of transportation, including travel to and from stores by:

• customers
• purchased products
• employees

Through the Sustainable Transport of People joint project, WWF and IKEA seek to contribute solutions to proactively shift consumer travel towards a less carbon-intensive model.

Sustainable Customer Transportation: An Opportunities Guide for Retailers and Shopping Centers (PDF, 7 MB) provides the inspiration and practical advice needed to get started.

Designed for store managers, business expansion teams, and sustainability officers, especially in the retail sector, this guide sets out to:

• explain the environmental and business rationale for sustainable customer transportation
• propose strategies and emissions reduction targets for increasing sustainable transportation

For more information on the guide or the Sustainable Transport of People project, please contact Sheri Willoughby (sheri.willoughby@wwf.panda.org).