WWF Basket
The WWF Basket
The WWF Basket
In November 2021 we launched the WWF Basket - a set of outcomes and measures to support the goal of halving the environmental impact of UK baskets by 2030, alongside a Blueprint for Action, outlining key steps food retailers can take to address these impacts.
Three years on, WWF is pleased to share the third report associated to the WWF Basket: What's in Store for the Planet: the Impact of the UK Shopping Basket on Climate and Nature - 2024.
This is an detailed overview of the UK grocery market’s impact across seven key areas, showing the distance the food retail sector needs to go to meet our target of halving the environmental impact of UK Baskets by 2030. The report also provides recommendations to help accelerate progress in the years ahead.
What is the WWF Basket?
What is the WWF Basket?
The WWF Basket sets out a series of Outcomes and Measures to support WWF's goal of halving the environmental impacts of UK baskets by 2030, alongside a Blueprint for Action, which outlines priority actions for retailers to address their climate and nature impacts.
The WWF Basket was initially developed through the WWF Tesco partnership. For more information about our partnership with Tesco, which concluded in November 2023, please click here.
Why it's important
Why it's important
We face a triple challenge: feeding a global growing population at the same time as tackling climate change and nature loss.
Right now food production is part of the problem: the way we produce the food we need is wreaking havoc on the planet. Here in the UK, almost every part of our food supply chain has an outsized environmental footprint.
As well as driving a catastrophic decline in UK nature, the UK requires 21.3 million hectares of land overseas – an area ten times the size of Wales – to satisfy our demand for seven key commodities, including several that are essential in food production, like palm oil and soy.
We can only meet vital climate targets and bring nature back from the brink if we put our food system on a sustainable footing.
Currently, global food production is fuelling the climate crisis and is one of the biggest threats to nature.
30%
of human-made greenhouse gas emissions are caused by food production
60%
of global biodiversity loss is caused by the food system
50%
of all habitable land on the planet is used for agriculture
70%
of the planet’s accessible water is used in agriculture
Time to act
Time to act
Given the scale of the threat, we cannot afford to continue with business as usual. We need to fix our broken food system. But changing something of this size and scale is fraught with complexities.
That is why we need everyone – including food businesses – on board, taking action to put food production on a sustainable footing.
WWF Basket areas
The Sustainable Basket Metric focuses on seven of the most urgent and devastating environmental issues the food system in the food system:
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Climate
Food production creates huge volumes of greenhouse gases, from the manufacturing and application of fossil-fuel based fertilizers, to the harmful emissions from cattle, to food processing and the energy needed to power each retail outlet. We need to see action to drive down emissions across every part of the food supply chain.
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© Luis Barreto / WWF-UKDeforestation and Conversion
Production of agricultural and forestry commodities is the main driver of conversion of natural habitats, from forests to wetlands. This land conversion has grave impacts on people, climate, and nature. We need action to eliminate deforestation and land conversion from UK supply chains.
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© Pauliina Heinänen / WWFDiets
The consumption of meat and dairy has huge environmental impacts. We need to ensure more of our protein comes from plant-based foods, and support farmers driving down emissions associated with food production and bringing nature back.
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© Agriculture WWFAgriculture
Growing the crops we need at the expense of nature puts our whole food system at risk. Agriculture requires natural resources like fresh water and fertile soil. Agricultural landscapes must be managed sustainably, to ensure land and waterways aren’t polluted or degraded, make space for nature and reduce emissions.
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© Meridith Kohut / WWF-USMarine
We are taking too much seafood from unsustainable sources and feeding farmed fish unsustainable food, which contributes to the decline of nature. We need action to put seafood production on a sustainable footing.
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© Elizabeth Dalziel / WWF-UKFood Waste
Over a third of the food produced goes to waste, carrying with it all the environmental impacts of producing the food plus the additional impacts of disposing of it. Globally, food waste is responsible for 8-10% of human-made greenhouse gases.. We need action to tackle food waste from farm to fork.
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© WWF-US / Zachary BakoPackaging
How our food is packaged has huge consequences for the environment, both in the production of the materials and the risk they pose of leaking into nature. We need to see a shift away from single use packaging, as part of a shift to a circular economy focused on reducing, reusing and recycling packaging.
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Transparent Data
Transparent Data
You can’t manage what you can’t measure, and that is why – when it comes to transforming our food system - having the right data is vital.
To track progress towards each of the WWF Basket outcomes, WWF asks all UK retailers to share a wide range of data for our annual "What's in Store for the Planet" report, to gain a clearer picture of environmental impacts across the sector.
As in previous years, there remains an urgent need for more consistent and detailed industry-wide data to help measure impact and drive change in the food system.
By being more transparent about environmental impacts, companies are not only helping to level the playing field, but also showing where greater support is needed - including from Government - driving greater cross-sector collaboration and helping to find solutions.
Read the 2024 report, What's in Store for the Planet: the Impact of the UK Shopping Basket on Climate and Nature - 2024.
WWF's Retailers' Commitment for Nature
On 6 November 2021, WWF announced that Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose pledged to slash their impact across climate, deforestation and nature by 2030, working with WWF, signing ‘WWF's Retailers' Commitment for Nature’. On 6 March 2023, Lidl became the sixth UK supermarket to sign WWF's Retailers' Commitment for Nature and, on 28 November 2023, Aldi became the seventh UK supermarket to sign the commitment.
Previous Reports
Explore the basket
Get in contact
Get in contact
Cross-sector collaboration is the most effective way to bring about the type of environmental change that is needed.
Please contact business@wwf.org.uk if you would like to collaborate with the wider industry on any of the areas addressed in the WWF Basket.