COMMENT December is always a crazily busy time in retailing, but last year it was made even crazier by my commitment to write a book – The Green Grocer, out in April – which seeks to distil my thinking on a range of business, social and environmental issues.
Latterly, this saw me making regular 5am starts at my desk to meet my publisher’s deadline. The creative process was not helped by the daily, if not hourly, changes in the progress of both the pandemic and the post-Brexit trade deal negotiations, requiring constant updates. I was relieved when it was finally committed to print and now can’t be changed.
Nothing about 2020 was like anyone’s previous experience – and unfortunately 2021 so far continues to surprise. We certainly saw some extreme craziness back at the start of the pandemic last March, with the nation suddenly gripped by the urge to panic-buy – particularly toilet paper, which made no sense at all and put the whole country’s retail systems and workforce under huge pressure.
It also turned my own priorities upside down. Instead of spending every waking hour trying to persuade people to come into our shops and spend more, I suddenly found myself doing the opposite: appealing to them to calm down, shop responsibly and allow supply chains to fill up again.
The business of business
One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is Iceland’s commitment to press ahead with our incredibly ambitious commitment to fully eliminate plastic from our own-label packaging by the end of 2023, as well as continuing to reduce food waste and carbon throughout our business and supply chain. I am also very proud that Iceland has just become the first supermarket in the world to sign the Climate Pledge, which seeks to achieve net zero by 2040.
It’s essential that business leads on tackling such big issues – particular the property industry. Considering that the built environment accounts for 40% of global greenhouse gases, I believe that the sector can, indeed urgently must, do way more.
Bywater Properties, of which I am chairman, is pushing ahead with a number of initiatives, from repurposing an old department store in Glasgow into flexible workspace to offering tenants the most sustainable menu of services possible – such as 100% renewable energy or remanufactured office furniture fit-outs reducing use of “virgin” raw materials and taking carbon out of the furnishing supply chain.
We are aiming to start construction by the end of the year on Paradise, a 60,000 sq ft carbon-neutral development that will be at the forefront of bringing mass timber construction to workspace design, significantly outperforming on the RIBA 2030 carbon goals and addressing the healthy-building agenda that needs to be at the core of “build back better”.
I firmly believe that it is possible for all businesses, from retailers to property developers, to help tackle some of the biggest issues we face, from fighting climate change to reducing social inequality to restoring nature. That is why I wanted to write The Green Grocer – to show how it’s not only possible, but also good for profits.
Reconnecting with nature
Working from home during lockdown has imposed no great hardship on me or my family, living as we do in a house with a garden, surrounded by beautiful countryside – but it did make us more conscious of our huge privilege.
Nature seemed more beautiful and vibrant than ever last spring and, like everyone else, I enjoyed the signs that it was healing – from the smog lifting (for a while) in China to fish returning to Venice and wild goats taking over the streets of Llandudno.
But it also made me more conscious that the tonic of accessing nature is denied to far too many, who are permanently disconnected from the countryside because of the epidemic of poverty, which can only be worsened by Covid-driven unemployment. It is essential that we reconnect everyone with nature so that people can appreciate the vital importance of protecting it for our own good.
Nothing is more important for our collective future than understanding that Covid-19 was nature’s warning shot across the bows of humanity, as we press on with the destruction of our planet. We need to act urgently to help protect and restore forests, grasslands, peatlands, oceans and freshwater habitats. If we don’t focus on the renewal of our ecosystems and the rewilding of our planet, the next pandemic will be even worse – and we will also face social breakdown and catastrophic climate change.
Richard Walker is managing director of Iceland and chairman of Bywater Properties
