American retailer Wal-Mart has revealed that it is to call on its suppliers to measure their carbon emissions in an attempt to find efficiencies in the supply chain.
According to a report in the Financial Times (FT), the US company is beginning the measurements through a pilot project involving a limited number of suppliers.
"If we remove carbon, which equates to energy which equates to cost, we fulfil our objective of getting low prices to the customer and having a positive environmental impact," said Jim Stanway, head of Wal-Mart’s global supply chain initiatives, according to the paper.
Generated data will be used to compare companies and see which of those on the supply chain are proving least efficient, based on measures developed by the Carbon Disclosure Project.
Initially, 30 companies across seven different product areas will have their emission levels measured, with the FT suggesting that the company's 68,000 suppliers will all be involved eventually.
According to a greenhouse gas emissions fact sheet on the Wal-Mart website, the company intends to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent in the next seven years.
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