Climate Resilience, Energy, and Emissions
Our Aspiration
Walmart seeks to enhance energy access, cost, and reliability for our business, strengthen our resilience to physical and transition risks related to a changing climate, develop new clean energy businesses, and draw down emissions in our operations and value chains.
Relevance to Our Business and Society
As an omnichannel retailer operating in 19 countries with a global supply chain and hundreds of millions of customers, a strong energy and climate strategy helps Walmart manage operational and regulatory risks, improve efficiency and reliability, and create competitive advantage. It also contributes to energy access and affordability, GHG emissions mitigation, supplier, value chain and community resilience, and the development of energy-saving and lower-emissions products and services.
Governance & Transparency
Ensuring our climate resilience, energy, and emissions strategies have appropriate management and oversight.
- Walmart's climate and energy strategy is led by the Chief Sustainability Officer and Head of Energy and is integrated across sourcing, operations, merchandising, real estate, finance, and public policy.
- The Walmart Executive Council receives updates on climate- and energy-related strategies and performance at least annually, while the Walmart Nominating and Governance Committee oversees sustainability initiatives, including climate-related matters.
- Climate-related risks are incorporated into Walmart's enterprise risk management process, which is overseen by the Walmart Governance Risk Committee and the Board's Audit Committee.
Assessing Climate and Energy-Related Risks and Opportunities
Assessing physical and transition risks that may impact our business.
- Walmart periodically conducts scenario-based assessments to evaluate how physical and transition climate risks could affect operations, supply chains, energy costs, customer demand, and long-term business performance.
- Walmart’s 2024 climate risk assessment evaluated approximately 40 climate risks across one-year, five-year, and 15-year time horizons, using the IPCC AR6 Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 5-8.5 for scenario for physical climate-related risks and the Network for Greening the Financial System Net Zero 2050 scenario for climate-related transition risks. Potential impacts were assessed using qualitative and quantitative factors aligned with Walmart’s practices for evaluating risk and financial materiality. The assessment identified operational disruption from extreme weather events and product and commodity sourcing disruption from extreme weather as the most strategically relevant over the medium-term, five-year horizon. For a full summary of Walmart’s climate risk assessment, review our FY2026 ESG Report.
- Climate-related risks are integrated into Walmart’s enterprise risk management process and business planning, while Walmart continues to monitor evolving transition risks and opportunities, including offering our customers energy-efficient products and access to our EV charging network.
Mitigating Emissions Across Our Operations
Enhancing access to clean energy and innovating to lower operational emissions.
- Walmart's operational emissions strategy focuses on energy access, affordability, resilience, and emissions reduction while aspiring to achieve zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions across global operations by 2040.
- In FY2026, absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions decreased 7.5% year over year resulting in a 24.6% reduction versus our FY2016 baseline, while operational emissions intensity declined 11.6% year over year and 53.7% since FY2016.
- Renewable sources supplied 53.3% of Walmart's global electricity needs, exceeding the company's 2025 renewable electricity target.
- Progress in drawing down combined Scope 1 and 2 emissions in FY2026 was primarily driven by a 20.7% reduction in refrigerant emissions, supported by improved leak management, enhanced preventive maintenance, expansion of Walmart's in-house technician network, adoption of lower-global-warming-potential refrigerants, and data- and AI-enabled tools and monitoring. Continued expansion of renewable electricity in the U.S. also contributed to lower operational emissions.
- Progress was partially offset by business growth, increased transportation activity, and higher onsite fuel use driven by colder seasonal conditions in the U.S. and Canada.
- Walmart continues to reduce operational emissions by improving refrigeration systems, expanding clean electricity, increasing energy efficiency, and advancing lower-emissions transportation technologies, working toward achieving our updated SBTi-approved target to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions 28% from a FY2025 baseline by FY2031.
Addressing Value Chain Emissions
Engaging stakeholders to mitigate value chain emissions and providing customer-facing energy solutions.
- Walmart works with suppliers and other stakeholders to reduce Scope 3 emissions while supporting supply chain resilience, operational efficiency, and business growth.
- In FY2026, Scope 3 emissions intensity improved, decreasing 8.29% vs. FY2022, while our estimated Scope 3 emissions increased to 635 MMT CO2e, reflecting business growth and changes in product mix.
- Project Gigaton, Walmart's supplier engagement platform, had over 4,300 suppliers report progress in FY2026. In FY2026, participating suppliers reported 187 MMT CO2e in expected emissions avoided, reduced, or sequestered, bringing cumulative reported reductions to more than 1.37 billion MT CO2e since 2017.
- Walmart supports supplier action through emissions measurement tools, implementation resources, training, product standards, and industry collaboration across five priority areas which represent the most significant sources of emissions across supplier operations and value chains: energy, product design, waste, packaging, and nature.
- Walmart also helps customers reduce downstream emissions by expanding energy-efficient product offerings and EV charging infrastructure. For example, as of FY2026, more than 1,300 fast charging stations were available at over 280 Walmart and Sam's Club locations in the U.S.
Adaptation and Resilience
Fortifying our assets and addressing climate-related risks.
- Walmart strengthens resilience by investing in facilities, operations, and supply chains that can better withstand physical climate risks, particularly extreme weather.
- Facility resilience measures include flood mitigation, stormwater management, hurricane-resistant construction, backup power, protection of critical infrastructure, and geographically diversified distribution networks.
- Walmart's 24/7 Global Security Operations Center helps monitor severe weather and other disruptions, supporting business continuity, inventory positioning, and coordinated response efforts.
- Walmart also strengthens supply chain resilience by diversifying suppliers and sourcing locations, expanding local and regional sourcing, using AI-enabled sourcing tools, advancing sustainable commodity sourcing, and improving forecasting and inventory management.
Advocacy
Responsible engagement in public policy to mitigate risks, bolster opportunities, and support decarbonization.
- Walmart advocates for public policies that improve energy reliability, encourage innovation, and support cost-effective emissions reductions while enabling long-term business growth.
- Guided by its Board-approved Statement on Climate Policy, Walmart supports clean energy, efficient transportation solutions, and technology-neutral approaches for hard-to-decarbonize sectors.
- Walmart supports policies intended to enable the development, adoption, and scaling of new energy and transportation technologies, including renewable and energy-efficient transportation.
