CSR is at the heart of the Group’s strategy

What has CSR performance looked like over the 2021–2023 period?

CSR is at the heart of Fnac Darty’s strategy, more than ever I’d say! It stretches across all levels of the Group, by going beyond the “doors” of the CSR department and directly into other areas. The momentum is very positive, as employees are engaged and taking committed initiatives by themselves. The transport teams are proof of this, as they are working together on decarbonizing their activity through the FRET 21 initiative, for example. This commits us to reducing our CO2 emissions in the transport sector by 10% in three years. In line with this, we are carrying out various projects to optimize our transport plans, make our own fleet greener (delivery and after-sales service) and involve suppliers in this same decarbonization objective.

The IT teams are also very proactive, with a “Green IT” approach aimed at reducing the environmental footprint of our digital activities.

What are the Group’s noteworthy actions? 

The first good news is that, at the end of 2021, we were able to measure our complete carbon balance sheet, and publish our direct and indirect emissions. This meant that, in 2022, we were able to commit to the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to establish a decarbonization pathway centered around three strong and concrete commitments :

— Reduce our direct CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030.
— Encourage suppliers to also commit themselves to a decarbonization pathway aligned with climate science.
— Reduce CO2 emissions linked to our customers’ use of products by 22% between 2019 and 2030.

Today, we are regularly recognized as being a leading company in terms of the quality of our CSR commitment. 

The CDP, a leading international not-for-profit organization that studies the environmental impacts of large companies and the effectiveness of their climate strategies, awarded us an A- rating, well above the average of the global retail sector. This is a very positive result, as the rating gets tougher every year. It is a great source of pride to stay at this high level.

What concrete actions does the Group carry out to meet the new energy-efficient requirements?

Today, we are signatories of the EcoWatt and EcoGaz charters and have defined a work plan for our stores that allows us to make significant energy savings, as our stores represent nearly 80% of the Group’s energy consumption in France. In particular, this involves equipping our stores with LED lighting and installing a centralized system to control the heating and air conditioning (BMS/TCM).

And we are committed within a more global framework alongside our brand suppliers, so we can encourage them to design products that consume less energy.

What about your commitments to sustainable consumption?

Purchasing power is the main concern among French people, but environmental concerns continue to grow. We support our customers by helping them to extend the life spans of their products and avoid making new purchases as a result. Our sustainable and responsible consumption model, based on the circular economy, has never been so relevant. Our customers have our Durability Score and “Sustainable Choice” product range to objectively guide them toward more reliable and repairable products. We launched the Darty Max offer, which has been a success with more than 800,000 subscribers wanting to have their household products repaired. We are also developing a qualitative second-life offer, a real alternative to buying new, which benefits from the same services that the Group offers on new products. More than ever, our role is to guide consumers toward adopting more sustainable behaviors!

What are the next projects that the CSR department will undertake in the coming months?

The first is related to the impact of our activities on biodiversity. We are currently in the process of quantifying and qualifying our impact as accurately as possible. We will soon be able to present our overview of this topic, through the means of a carbon balance sheet.

The second major project involves bringing the CSR culture as close as possible to employees working in stores or in operations, so that CSR really is everyone’s business! There is still work to be done at this level, by appointing representatives closer to the activities of stores and salespeople, for example. We also want to get our partners in subsidiaries across Europe more closely involved in our projects and share best practices among ourselves.

With 25,000 employees and nearly 1,000 stores worldwide, we have a real impact on our ecosystems and stakeholders. It is up to us to ensure that this impact is as positive as possible while continuing our pursuit of value creation.