Read about the role of the Nordic food retailers in sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and initiatives that has been taken by Nordic food retailers in the area of SCP. In addition, you can find proposals on how Nordic authorities can facilitate that retailers take the utmost responsibility and contribute directly and indirectly to increased sustainability.
Retailers have the potential to play a critical role in stimulating sustainable production and influencing consumers towards greener consumption and lifestyles. The project is financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers as part of the Danish Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2010.
The role of retailers Occupying a unique position in the lifecycle chain of products as a 'gatekeeper' between producers and consumers, retailers play a big role in furthering the sustainability of consumption and production.
What the retailers can do Retailers can undertake possible environmentally focused change initiatives by examining their Upstream Activities, In-Shop Activities, and Downstream Activities in the product chain.
Driving forces and barriers for retail sustainability initiativesDriving forces are various factors that encourage and enable retailers to initiate their sustainable capabilities through all levels of the supply chain. Additionally, a number of barriers exist that make this a difficult prospect in reality.
What the policymakers can doConstraints of competitive markets often make it difficult for companies to act alone. Government has an important enabling role to play in using policy levers to support the development of more sustainable products.
About the projectRead more about what the objective of the project is and how Nordic authorities facilitate that retailers take the utmost responsibility and contributes directly and indirectly to increased sustainability.
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency Strandgade 29 DK-1401 Copenhagen K Phone: +45 7254 4000
Copenhagen Resource Institute Højbro Plads 4, Mezzaninen DK-1200 Copenhagen K Phone: +45 7254 6160
The Nordic Council of Ministers Ved Stranden 18 DK-1061 Copenhagen K Phone: +45 3396 0200
Key trends in environmental impacts from consumption in Nordic countries reveal that more action is needed.
The role of retailers in the transition towards Sustainable Consumption and Production (PDF, 424KB)
Potential policies to promote SCP via the food retail sector in Nordic Countries (PDF, 400KB)
Read more about the project (PDF, 108KB)