Earth Month 2022: Small actions make a world of difference

At IKEA, we want to take part in building a future that’s better for people and the planet. As part of our mission to create a better everyday life for the many people, we must acknowledge that there are pertinent crises affecting those across the world. The devastating war in Ukraine and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to many other issues, all require our immediate attention as the definition of home is changing for the many.

While our world has evolved dramatically, one thing remains the same – our actions have a direct effect on our shared home, Planet Earth. Our climate footprint covers every aspect of our business – from creating more sustainable stores to advocating for a net zero carbon economy – each step, no matter the size or scale, gets us closer to achieving our ambitions and transforming the IKEA business model to become circular and climate positive by 2030.

Although Earth Month marks a moment in time to reflect on our collective impact, becoming circular and climate positive is a year-round responsibility. In addition to global goals and commitments, our aim is to make a world of difference in our own backyards. Our IKEA locations play an important role on a local level, and I’m proud to share the many ways we are helping to reduce our climate footprint including:

• 225 EV charging stations across 53 of our IKEA locations
• 90% of our IKEA locations have rooftop solar arrays
• 6 stores with biogas-fuel cells
• 4 units that are LEED certified
• 2 stores with geothermal systems
• 2 wind farms, 2 solar farms and 150,000 acres of responsibly-managed forestland
• 1 store with a solar car park (with 7 more underway)

We also want to inspire our customers to live a more sustainable life at home. And, beginning today, April 1st, Buy Back & Resell will become a permanent service at 37 stores across the U.S., giving IKEA Family members the opportunity to sell their gently used IKEA furniture back in exchange for store credit. We decided to make this a permanent offering following the success of our 2021 pilot in Conshohocken, PA and then nationally across 33 stores. 

Through collective action, we can address the climate crisis and create a positive impact. While we know that there is so much more to get done, we want to enable and inspire others to make a world of difference because we believe that when we each do a little, together we can accomplish a lot.

Javier Quiñones

CEO & Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA U.S.