Harrods releases first ESG report, outlines future goals

British department store retailer Harrods has released its first environmental, social and governance (ESG) report, in which it has outlined both its achievements and its future goals as part of an ongoing “sustainability journey”.

Through what has been dubbed ‘The Harrods Path to a Sustainable Future’, the luxury retailer set about detailing the steps it has taken to “operate more responsibly across the value chain”, covering such processes through four thematic areas: Our Business, Our Products, Partnerships and Innovation, Our People and Our Community.

In a release for the report, managing director, Michael Ward, said that “while Harrods has witnessed unprecedented change over its course, we are facing an even more rapidly changing future”.

Ward continued: “We recognise that it is only by putting the sustainability of our business, our supply chain and the planet at the forefront of our business, that we can assure the continuing high standards that we have always stood for and that our customers expected.”

The director went on to note that the debut report was an “important first step” but that there was still “much to do on [Harrods’] sustainability journey”.

In terms of supply chain transparency, Harrods reported that it saw a 2.4 percent reduction in Scope 1 & 2 energy consumption against a 2022 baseline during 2023, while it was also the first year that the company began mapping its Scope 3 emissions.

The company is currently aiming to reduce its absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent before 2030 against a 2022 baseline, a shift on its prior 2019 baseline due to the improvement of data collection.

Another key achievement was the installation of solar panels at the company’s Thames Valley Distribution Centre, which Harrods said would provide 41 percent of the location’s annual power requirement.

Additional notable achievements include the 700 pieces rented by customers through Harrods’ partnership with MyWardrobe HQ, the launch of the H Beauty recycling scheme across all of its H Beauty sites and the introduction of a data capture campaign to better understand the demographic of employee applicants and colleagues.