“The cheapest and cleanest energy is the one that we never consume”

Karol Gobczyński, Head of Climate and Energy at Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer in 31 countries, told ELN that refraining from investing during the era of energy transition and crisis cannot be considered a viable solution

The most cost-effective and eco-friendly form of energy is the energy that we do not use.

That’s the suggestion from Karol Gobczyński, Head of Climate and Energy at Ingka Group, owner of IKEA, which explained to ELN how energy efficiency remains one of the top priorities for the retail giant.

Mr Gobczyński said: “What we are exactly doing, it’s we are investing in energy efficiency first. And I think this is really important because the cheapest and cleanest energy is the one that we never consume.

“We see what we have been doing in the last couple of years pays off and we need to continue doing that going further. The higher energy costs make us look closer to see if we can deploy even more energy-efficient solutions within the organisation to reduce the cost most drastically. We always need to find a way to use the crisis to create something good.”

A few days ago, Ingka Group released its latest Annual Summary and Sustainability report – the report suggests the group is making progress in reducing its total climate footprint, achieving a decrease of 13.6% from the financial year 2016 and a decrease of 6% from the financial year 2021. 

The reduction contributes to the overall IKEA climate footprint, which saw a 12% reduction in absolute terms compared to the baseline year FY16.

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