IKEA Vows To Spend $1 Billion On Renewable Energy

IKEA announced plans to spend more than $1.2 billion on renewable energy. The world’s largest furniture retailer also pledges to help poor nations cope with climate change.

IKEA’s Chief Executive Officer, Peter Agnefjall, told Reuters the company plans to move toward their goal of using 100 percent clean energy by taking an active stance to slow warming, without pushing consumer prices up.
Agnefjall said the company’s investments “will be good for customers, good for the climate, and good for IKEA too.” Agnefjall added the company’s plans are not a public relations campaign—the Swedish furniture store is simply motivated to tackle climate change.
IKEA’s CEO told Reuters, “Getting that message out to the customers is secondary.”
IKEA has already invested $1.7 billion in solar and wind renewable energy. The company plans to add more to their previous investment by using 60 percent of the $1.2 billion to go towards renewable energy, in particular wind energy.
The other 40 percent of the investment will go towards helping poor countries adapt to climate change. Amjad Abdulla, chief negotiator on the United Nations climate agreement for the Alliance of Small Island States, commented, “I am heartened to see corporate leadership in this area.”
IKEA’s use of renewable energy is notable. They have 700,000 solar panels on their buildings, with 314 wind turbines in nine countries.
However, in March, Fortune reported IKEA uses one percent of the world’s commercially logged wood. IKEA stated they plan to obtain more of its wood and cotton from sustainable sources in the future.
IKEA’s chief sustainability officer, Steve Howard, commented on the company’s sustainability plans.

“We are potentially at peak stuff in the west. That’s probably a good thing. But we’re a small share of that stuff. And as stuff becomes more sustainable we’re going to lead in sustainable stuff. There’s a huge growth market for sustainable stuff. This is a roller coaster of a mega-trend.”

IKEA is recognized for not charging premium prices for environmentally friendly or green products. Their policy is to serve “the many people” and “those with thin wallets.” Last year, IKEA made more than $32 billion, according to an article by Grist.
The world’s largest furniture retailer will phase out all of their light bulbs by September. They are also starting to sell solar panels at reasonable prices.
IKEA’s Steve Howard said, “We sold enough [LEDs] last year to save the energy of a decent sized city.”
In addition to investing in renewable energy and helping impoverished nations adapt to climate change, IKEA plans to generate its own clean energy by 2020.
[Featured image via Williams Company]