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Marks and Spencer

Helping M&S bring Plan A to life

WWF is working with Marks & Spencer to support the company’s ‘Plan A’. M&S’s five-year, 100-point eco-plan includes commitments to make all its UK and Irish operations carbon neutral, to send no waste to landfill, and substantially increase the use of sustainable raw materials by 2012.

Engaging with WWF project

We’re involved in various environmental projects along the M&S supply chain, in particular focusing on agricultural, marine and freshwater issues.

We’re also encouraging the company’s efforts to help M&S customers and staff reduce individual carbon footprints, not least through WWF’s Footprint Calculator

Another element of the partnership is the support of WWF’s conservation work in Borneo and the north-east Atlantic Ocean, protecting endangered species and habitats.

Taking a lead on marine conservation

M&S is the first UK company to sign up to WWF's Seafood Charter. We’ll be helping evaluate the sustainability of the fish products and fish-feed in its supply chains, and advise on identifying and developing more sustainable sources.

M&S has also backed our plans for a network of marine reserves across the North Sea, needed to help rebuild populations of many threatened fish species and protect their habitats, and is funding research into the huge problem of discarded fish.

Forever Fish logo

Encouraging changes in consumer behaviour

M&S has launched a new initiative called 'Forever Fish’. By donating over £1 million from the sale of its 5p carrier bags, the three-year campaign will fund a number of marine conservation projects.


 

Using less water and ‘better cotton’

WWF is helping M&S get a better understanding of its water footprint – in particular the water used around the world to produce its clothing and food ranges.

We’re also working with the company to implement a cotton field project in India, to encourage 4200 farmers to produce cotton using Better Management Practices (BMPs), decreasing the amount of water and agrochemicals used. The plan is ultimately to introduce ’Better Cotton‘ into the M&S supply chain and set a leading example for other retailers to follow.

Sub adult male orang-utan

Saving forests and wildlife in Borneo

M&S is joining WWF to take immediate action in the Heart of Borneo region, on a project working with Malaysian, Indonesian and Brunei governments to end deforestation and create incentives so forests are more valuable left standing, rather than felled.

It involves funding a forest restoration scheme in Sabah, Borneo – re-establishing an area the size of 200 football pitches to form an important wildlife ‘corridor’, letting rare species, including orang-utans, roam freely and flourish.

Watch the Borneo video and read more about the WWF partnership on the M&S website.

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