Walmart Reaches 53.3% Renewable Electricity as Operational Emissions Fall

Walmart sourced more than half of its global electricity from renewable sources during fiscal 2026, while reducing emissions from its directly controlled operations, according to the retailer’s latest environmental, social and governance report.

Renewable energy supplied 53.3% of Walmart’s global electricity needs during the reporting period. This exceeded the company’s target of sourcing at least 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025.

The result represents a notable increase from 2022, when renewable sources accounted for approximately 47% of the electricity used by Walmart’s operations. The company ultimately aims to power its facilities with 100% renewable energy by 2035.

Walmart operates more than 10,900 stores and ecommerce platforms across 19 countries, serving approximately 280 million customers and members each week. Its fiscal 2026 revenue reached US$713.2 billion, making changes to its electricity purchasing and supply chain requirements potentially significant for energy developers, manufacturers and consumer goods suppliers.

Operational Emissions Fall by 7.5%

Walmart reported that its absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions fell by 7.5% year on year in fiscal 2026.

The reduction left operational emissions 24.6% below the company’s fiscal 2016 baseline. Emissions intensity, which measures emissions relative to business activity, declined by 11.6% during the year and by more than 53% compared with the baseline.

Scope 1 emissions include sources directly controlled by Walmart, such as fuel used in vehicles, heating systems and refrigeration equipment. Scope 2 covers emissions associated with purchased electricity and other forms of energy.

The figures indicate that Walmart’s operational emissions are falling even as the company continues to expand its retail, delivery and digital activities. However, the remaining reduction required is substantial. Walmart has previously set a goal of reaching zero emissions across its global operations by 2040 without relying on carbon offsets.

Electricity procurement is only one part of this transition. Retail businesses also face emissions from refrigerants, vehicle fleets, heating systems, backup generators and other equipment that cannot always be addressed through renewable power contracts alone.

Walmart has consequently been investing in onsite generation, energy storage, lower-emission transport and offsite renewable energy projects. In 2024, the company announced agreements supporting 842MW of additional renewable generation in the United States, alongside utility arrangements representing a further 77MW. It has also committed to enabling 10GW of new clean energy projects by 2030.

For electricity suppliers and project developers, Walmart’s progress demonstrates the continuing role of large corporate buyers in supporting renewable energy deployment. Long-term power purchase agreements and direct investments can provide developers with revenue certainty while helping companies reduce exposure to electricity price volatility.

Supply Chain Emissions Remain the Larger Challenge

Although Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are important, most of the climate impact associated with major retailers occurs outside their direct operations.

Emissions are produced across agriculture, raw material extraction, manufacturing, packaging, transport, product use and disposal. These Scope 3 sources are more difficult to measure and reduce because they are controlled by thousands of suppliers rather than the retailer itself.

Walmart has attempted to address this through Project Gigaton, a supplier engagement programme launched in 2017. Suppliers participating in the programme have reported projects expected to avoid, reduce or sequester 1.37 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030.

The programme originally sought to avoid one billion tonnes of emissions from the company’s value chain by 2030. Walmart announced in 2024 that suppliers had reported reaching that milestone more than six years early.

Participating businesses can take action in areas including energy use, transport, waste, packaging, agriculture, product design and nature protection. Walmart has also encouraged suppliers to calculate and disclose their complete operational footprints, rather than reporting only individual emissions-reduction projects.

Supplier-reported avoided emissions should not be interpreted in the same way as reductions in Walmart’s independently reported operational inventory. Such figures are generally based on estimates from participating projects and may include future impacts expected to occur by 2030. They nevertheless provide an indication of the scale of intervention possible when a major buyer incorporates climate requirements into procurement and supplier support.

For manufacturers, this creates both pressure and opportunity. Suppliers may increasingly need credible emissions data, renewable electricity arrangements and product-level environmental information to maintain relationships with major retailers. At the same time, efficiency improvements can reduce energy costs, material use and exposure to carbon-related regulation.

Nature, Waste and Sourcing Included in Resilience Strategy

The report also links climate action with the resilience of agricultural and commodity supply chains.

During fiscal 2026, Walmart said suppliers and grant recipients reported sustainably managing, protecting or restoring 76.2 million acres of land and 3.68 million square miles of ocean. The Walmart Foundation has invested more than US$120 million in related work since fiscal 2021, including US$30.5 million during fiscal 2026.

The retailer reported that 97.3% of supplier-reported South American beef farms in designated priority regions had been verified as free from deforestation and ecosystem conversion. It also said 99.9% of its private-brand coffee was sourced under certifications it classifies as more sustainable.

Waste performance remains more mixed. Walmart is working towards a 50% reduction in operational food loss and waste intensity by 2030 compared with 2016, but reported a reduction of only 3.45% against the baseline in 2025. The company said accounting outcomes were affected partly by food being redirected from disposal to composting and other recovery routes that are still classified as food loss under the Food Loss and Waste Standard.

The results highlight the complexity of assessing corporate sustainability performance. Renewable electricity and operational carbon reductions can be quantified relatively clearly, while supply chain, nature and waste metrics often depend on supplier reporting, certification methodologies and assumptions about avoided impacts.

For businesses following Walmart’s approach, the practical lesson is that net-zero planning increasingly extends beyond purchasing clean electricity. It requires operational investment, supplier data, credible accounting processes and procurement policies that translate climate objectives into commercial decisions.

Source: sustainabilitymag.com