Neckarsulm, January 22, 2026 – The companies of Schwarz Group have reached a significant milestone in their jointly developed climate strategy. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has validated the net zero target by 2050, officially confirming the alignment of Schwarz Group’s climate targets with the latest scientific findings. This milestone marks the commitment of the retail group to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions along the entire value chain to net zero by 2050 at the latest.
The independent validation by SBTi proves that Schwarz Group is on the right track and making a significant contribution to climate action. With this achievement, Schwarz Group joins a group of over 10,000 companies worldwide with SBTi-validated climate targets, making it a leader in the voluntary initiative of the CDP, the UN Global Compact, the World Resources Institute, and the WWF.
Florian Schütze, Member of the Executive Board, Corporate Responsibility at Schwarz Corporate Affairs, highlights the importance of climate action in today’s business landscape: “In times of political volatility and controversial discourse on the relevance of the green transformation, climate protection must not become a pawn. Committed action is becoming the key indicator of competitiveness and resilience right now.”
Sustainable Management as a Strategic Response
Schwarz Group sees sustainable management as the key to safeguarding their business models in the long term. As a leading ecosystem that covers production, retail, recycling, and digitalization, the company is committed to a holistic and cross-divisional climate strategy with ambitious, long-term targets in line with SBTi standards. By 2050, Schwarz Group aims to reduce operational emissions in Scope 1 and 2 by 90% (base year 2019). In Scope 3, the company plans to reduce forestry, land, and agricultural emissions (FLAG) by 72%, and emissions from energy and industrial processes (E&I) and fuels by 90% (base year 2022).
Challenges of Scope 3: Transforming the Supply Chain
The companies of Schwarz Group record around 98% of their CO2 emissions in the upstream and downstream value chain (Scope 3). Despite the challenges posed by limited influence, complex supply chains, and inadequate data availability, the company has identified a crucial lever for climate action in this area. Schwarz Group relies on strategic partnerships, targeted investments in future technologies, and a valid database to drive the reduction of emissions in the supply chain and the transformation of nutrition and agriculture.
Proving that climate-conscious nutrition is a viable alternative, Lidl, Kaufland, and Schwarz Produktion have implemented sustainable and innovative product and range designs. At the Green Week in Berlin (January 16 to 25, 2026), the retail divisions of Schwarz Group are showcasing how sustainable business can work in practice. Through the expansion of regional offerings and promoting price parity for plant-based alternatives, Kaufland and Lidl in Germany are making climate-conscious nutrition accessible, affordable, and tasty.
For more information, please visit www.gruppe.schwarz or read the current sustainability report from the companies of Schwarz Group at www.nhb.schwarz.
Press Contact
Schwarz Corporate Affairs GmbH & Co. KG
Telephone +49 (0)7132 30788600
presse@mail.schwarz
About Schwarz Group
Schwarz Group is an international leader in the retail industry with over 14,200 stores and 595,000 employees. In the 2024 fiscal year, the companies of Schwarz Group generated a total sales volume of 175.4 billion euros. The company’s unique ecosystem covers the full value cycle, from production and retail to recycling and digitalization. Schwarz Group strives to create solutions that make people’s lives safer, healthier, and more sustainable, both now and in the future.
Lidl and Kaufland are the pillars of the food retail market and play an integral role in customers’ daily lives in 32 countries. Many of the own-brand products and sustainable packaging come directly from Schwarz Produktion. Through its recycling management solutions, the environmental service provider PreZero promotes a functional circular economy and is committed to a clean future. Schwarz Digits, the IT and digital division, offers digital products and services that meet high German data protection standards, ensuring maximum digital sovereignty. Schwarz Corporate Solutions is the partner service provider that assists the companies of Schwarz Group with all aspects of administration, HR, and operational activities.
