Energy and Climate

• Avoiding and Offsetting Emissions

  Along with energy-efficiency initiatives, low-carbon energy is an important part of our approach to reducing GHG emissions from electricity consumption. We leverage low-carbon energy sources as well as carbon offsets² in our efforts to reduce emissions from our global corporate GHG inventory.

  Renewable and Low-Carbon Energy

  As a global company, we operate in many different energy and renewables markets. Opportunities for using renewable energy vary greatly from country to country and even within regions. Additionally, for TJX, onsite, renewable electricity-generation opportunities are limited as we typically do not build or own our stores. We have regional strategies to support our efforts, and subject matter experts review opportunities, deal structures, and procurement strategies that are currently available in their local marketplaces. They continue to evaluate alternative energy solutions and purchasing opportunities for our facilities, taking into account the economic and operational feasibility of projects. Some examples of our current sourcing strategies include:

  • Wholesale power purchase agreements
  • On-site power purchase agreements
  • Electricity supply contracts
  • Renewable energy credits

  In 2019, we sourced over 290 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy in total, generated from a variety of technologies. In the U.S. and Canada, our approach to renewable energy includes installing solar panels on select buildings, contracting with utilities for renewables, and purchasing renewable energy credits from national, new-renewable facilities. Our renewable energy strategies and low-carbon energy purchases in 2019 enabled us to reduce our Scope 2 market-based GHG inventory by more than 150,000 metric tons of CO₂e.

  TJX leases the vast majority of its stores, which limits our ability to generate renewable electricity on a broader scale. However, we have found opportunities in distribution centers that we own, and in other buildings where market conditions and landlord partnerships enable projects. In the U.S., specific efforts include solar panels installed on the roofs of select stores in New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and California and distribution centers in Arizona, Connecticut, and Nevada. We have seen positive results at our distribution centers in Phoenix and Tucson, where solar panels power about 35% and 20%, respectively, of the distribution center’s electricity consumption saving significant energy and an estimated $550,000 each year. We have also designed the roofs on our newer distribution centers to accommodate solar panels and have evaluated the potential for future use of solar panel installations at distribution centers and home offices. We believe these efforts position us well to expand our solar projects where it makes sense for the business in the future.

  In Canada, in 2019, we purchased renewable energy credits that reduced our Canadian electricity-related emissions by 87%. In Europe, our processing centers in Bergheim, Germany and Wroclaw, Poland utilize onsite energy generated through solar and geothermal technologies. In Ireland and Northern Ireland, we bought 100% renewable energy, and we have committed to significant renewable energy purchases in the U.K. in the future.

  Carbon Offsets

  For the 2019 GHG inventory, TJX Canada purchased carbon offsets to cover its remaining operational emissions, including Scope 1 and certain Scope 3 emissions (from business travel and waste), as well as Scope 2 emissions not covered by renewable energy purchases.³ For our offset purchase, we chose a Verified Carbon Standard (VCS)-certified⁴ project known as the Darkwoods Forest Carbon Project, located in southeastern British Columbia. The project provides multiple conservation benefits, including protecting over 150,000 acres of forest and ensuring that natural habitats for wildlife are not disrupted.

• U.S. Highlights

  In the U.S., members of our Energy Management team work with our Store Design teams, Distribution Center teams, vendors, and many others to review opportunities to increase our energy efficiency for new and existing facilities. For our large and diverse real estate portfolio nationwide, we analyze store energy data, survey responses, and feedback to identify energy consumption outliers and then work to deploy the appropriate solutions to improve the operations of our buildings, increase people’s comfort, and save energy. Our U.S. Energy Management team works with the goal of reducing energy and emissions in these key ways:

  • Exploring new technologies to optimize access to and analysis of our energy data, which could enable swifter resolution of maintenance or operational issues and further increase our efficiency
  • Identifying new applications of light-emitting diode (LED) technologies and installing LED light fixtures in most areas of our new stores – from the backroom to the fitting rooms to the jewelry cases
  • Retrofitting existing lighting and HVAC systems in stores and distribution centers
  • Leading the Save-a-Watt program, which identifies stores that are operating outside of our standards for efficiency and works with them to optimize lighting, electrical, and mechanical systems

  Additionally, our Energy Management teams work with our Environmental Sustainability team to collect data for our annual GHG emissions inventory, as well as plan for how we may work to achieve our emissions reduction targets through energy reduction initiatives. This collaboration significantly improved our ability to report our previous GHG emissions reduction target, which we were pleased to not just meet, but to significantly exceed. The teams were also key in developing the strategies and plans for our 2020 science-based, emissions-reduction target.

• Canada Highlights

  In Canada, we take a collaborative approach to our energy portfolio, with stakeholders from Store Design and Construction, Maintenance, Finance, and Environmental Sustainability working together to decrease energy consumption and carbon emissions. The team focuses on:

  • Identifying opportunities to conserve energy in our stores (primarily through energy efficient lighting upgrades)
  • Evaluating technologies such as battery energy storage and demand-control ventilation for HVAC
  • Leveraging incentives provided by provincial utility programs to reduce project costs
  • Exploring renewable energy purchasing opportunities

  In 2019, TJX Canada implemented technologies, like LED lighting and new energy control panels in over 80 stores. Our continued year-over-year efforts have reduced Canada’s carbon footprint by 6% and saved us over $1.6 million in energy costs.

  We are proud to report that in 2019, Canada was carbon neutral for its reported Scope 1, 2, and 3 operations for its second year in a row. The regional team purchased renewable energy credits as well as carbon offsets to support this strategy. Renewable energy credits made from Canadian wind farms served to reduce Canada’s total market-based emissions by 47%. The remaining 53% used carbon offsets sourced from the Nature Conservancy of Canada and its Darkwoods Forest Carbon Project.

  Through its ambitious regional energy and climate strategy, TJX Canada avoided or offset nearly 43,000 metric tons of CO₂e calculated for its 2019 GHG inventory. This has the estimated environmental impact of taking over 9,200 cars off the road for a year or the estimated carbon stored by over 56,000 acres of trees.

• Europe Highlights

  In Europe, our Energy and Environment Committee is responsible for setting regional environmental sustainability goals, approving implementation strategies, reviewing program progress, and assessing the viability of future opportunities. It is comprised of senior individuals from across the business, including Corporate Responsibility, Store Operations, Property, Distribution, Facilities, Finance, Store Design, and Procurement as well as external expert consultants. At the operations level, we also have an Environmental and Energy Management Committee, comprised of internal Associates and an external energy management specialist, which has developed a comprehensive, multi-year plan with the goal of improving our energy performance.

  TJX Europe's initiatives include:

  • Installing LED lighting in new and remodeled stores and Processing Centers, which are 65% more efficient and reduce our energy consumption in stores by 42%
  • Leveraging our building monitoring systems to analyze our energy consumption, facilitate swift diagnosis and resolution of maintenance or other issues, determine needs for equipment upgrades, and measure the progress of our initiatives
  • Implementing lighting and heating/cooling policies to manage electricity use for stores in the U.K. and mainland Europe
  • Retrofitting our stores with energy-efficient equipment such as HVAC with CO₂ sensors that automatically adjust based on store occupancy levels or back room sensors that only heat or cool a room that is occupied

  In 2019, the European team completed LED lighting retrofits and remodel projects that resulted in lowered energy consumption overall across our European real estate portfolio. These efforts resulted in about a 13% reduction in energy intensity (kilowatt hours per square foot) and helped to reduce our GHG emissions by about 5,300 metric tons of CO₂e. In addition to contributing to TJX’s global emissions reduction goal, TJX Europe has a regional goal to reduce its relative carbon footprint (tCO₂e) per million pounds of net sales by 15% from fiscal 2017 to fiscal 2020. As a result of these and other initiatives that contribute to TJX Europe’s regional energy and climate strategy, TJX Europe exceeded that regional carbon reduction target early and achieved a more than 45% reduction in CO₂ per million pounds of net sales over the 3-year goal period.

¹Includes 2019 Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) GHG emissions.
²Carbon offsets are certificates that can be traded. The certificate represents a reduction in GHG emissions created by a project, like, for example, planting acres of trees. Companies can purchase these certificates to “offset” an increase in GHG emissions in their operations.
³As defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, Scope 1 emissions are direct GHG emissions that occur from sources that are owned or controlled by the company. Scope 2 emissions are from the generation of purchased energy consumed by the company. Scope 3 emissions are a consequence of the activities of the company, but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the company. Canada’s GHG Inventory includes Scope 1 and Scope 2 as well as Scope 3 business travel and waste from operations.
⁴Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) is a widely used, voluntary program for the certification of GHG emission reduction projects.