Walmart Highlights Economic, Societal and Environmental Progress in 2018 Global Responsibility Report Summary

Business Wire 23-Apr-2018 12:04 PM

Summary outlines Walmart's milestones toward increasing economic opportunity, enhancing sustainability and strengthening local communities

Today, Walmart released a summary of its eleventh annual Global Responsibility Report (GRR), highlighting the company's progress and accomplishments in fiscal year 2018 to increase economic opportunity, enhance sustainability of supply chains and strengthen local communities.

To become the most trusted retailer in a way that creates value for business and society, Walmart works in partnership with suppliers, NGOs, thought leaders and elected officials to positively impact entire systems. Walmart aims to lead on the environmental, social and governance issues that matter most to customers, associates, shareholders and communities.

"At Walmart, we believe strengthening societal systems is not only the responsible thing to do, it also maximizes business value," said Kathleen McLaughlin, president of the Walmart Foundation and chief sustainability officer for Walmart. "Through our initiatives, we hope to accelerate progress and spark collective action on the issues that matter most to our customers, business and communities – helping to transform retail and retail supply chains for economic, environmental and social sustainability."

Walmart has made significant progress towards ambitious goals set more than a decade ago including to be powered by 100 percent renewable energy, create zero waste and sell products that sustain people and the environment. The company has further broadened its bold aspirations, marking a number of milestones in fiscal year 2018, including: significant investments in higher wages, training and increased parental leave for associates; a collaborative initiative with suppliers across the value chain to remove one billion metric tons, or one gigaton, of emissions by 2030 known as Project Gigaton™; and further collaborations with suppliers, nonprofit organizations and others to combat forced labor in the global supply chain.

Milestones and progress outlined in the 2018 Global Responsibility Report Summary include:

Increasing Economic Opportunity in Retail and Retail Supply Chains

• Advancing Economic Mobility at Walmart: Walmart promoted more than 230,000 people to jobs of greater responsibility and higher pay in the U.S. in FY2018 with bonuses for hourly U.S. associates topping more than $625 million.
• Fostering Inclusion: As of January 31, 2018, Women make up more than 30 percent of Walmart's company officers and 55 percent of its total U.S. workforce.
• Supporting Retail Opportunity across the Sector: Through the end of FY2018, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have invested more than $80 million of their $100 million Retail Opportunity Initiative in grants to programs aimed at making it easier for frontline workers advance their careers in retail or adjacent sectors.
• Growing a Local and Inclusive Supply Base: Walmart and the Walmart Foundation funded the training of more than 1 million small-and-medium-scale farmers, of whom more than half are women.

Enhancing the Sustainability of Operations and Value Chains

• Increasing our Renewable Energy Portfolio: Walmart has set a goal to be powered by 50 percent renewable sources by 2025, and has currently achieved 28 percent, making the goal well on track toward on-time completion.
• Reducing emissions in Walmart's Supply Chain: Launched in 2017, Project Gigaton™ strives to reduce emissions from the collective value chain – Walmart's supply chain and the supply chain of its suppliers - by a total of one gigaton by 2030. To date, more than 400 suppliers have signed on and within the first year of reporting, more than 200 of these suppliers reported emissions reductions that totaled over 20 million metric tons.
• Working to Zero Waste: By the end of FY2018, 78 percent of Walmart's global waste was successfully diverted from landfill.
• Enhancing the Environmental Sustainability of Key Commodities: Walmart is committed to source 100 percent of its seafood from suppliers and fisheries that are third-party certified as sustainable, actively working toward certification, or engaged in Fishery Improvement Projects. Last year, Walmart achieved this goal of 100 percent certified for its wild-caught fish, and 98 percent through farmed fish, with the final two percent having plans in place to obtain certification.

Strengthening Local Communities

• Providing Disaster Relief: Since FY2017, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have provided more than $44 million in funding to support disaster response and preparedness around the world, which includes funding for the devastating hurricanes that hit the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico in 2017.
• Relieving Hunger: Since FY2015, Walmart has donated over 2.5 billion pounds of food from Walmart Stores, Sam's Club locations and distribution centers in the U.S., including more than 675 million pounds of food in FY2018.
• Engaging Associates and Communities: In FY2018, Walmart associates volunteered more than 850,000 hours in the U.S., and the company's U.S. stores and clubs provided more than $42 million in local grants.
• Supporting Veterans: Since Memorial Day 2013, Walmart has hired more than 194,000 U.S. veterans and promoted more than 28,000 veterans to roles of greater responsibility.

For more information on Walmart and the Walmart Foundation's public commitments, priorities and progress, visit corporate.walmart.com/2018grr.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better - anytime and anywhere - in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, nearly 270 million customers and members visit our more than 11,700 stores under 65 banners in 28 countries and eCommerce websites. With fiscal year 2018 revenue of $500.3 billion, Walmart employs approximately 2.3 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com, on Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart.

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