Ikea will aim to make home deliveries with zero emissions in five cities by 2020, the company announced this week.
Deliveries to customers in Amsterdam, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, and Shanghai will be done mostly by electric vehicle to meet zero emissions environmental goals.
“For us it’s crucial to grow our business in a sustainable way—that’s why we’re speeding up the transition to EV in five inner city areas,” Ikea Group CEO Jesper Brodin said in a statement. “By 2020 all our home deliveries in central Amsterdam, Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Shanghai will be by EV or other zero emission solutions.”
The Swedish furniture company joined the initiative by the Climate Group, EV100, in 2017, promising to meet this goal by 2020, provide access to electric vehicle charging stations at Ikea locations by 2020, make all home deliveries zero emission by 2025, and cut in half emissions from Ikea employees and customers by 2030.
Other companies that are part of that group include HP, Unilever, and PG&E.
Among EV100 members, Ikea is leading the way. The company pledged in June to remove all single-use plastic—like plastic straws and plates for Swedish meatballs—from its stores by 2020.
“By switching to EVs for home deliveries at this pace, IKEA is setting a strong example for clean transport in city centers, where zero emissions zones will one day become the norm,” Climate Group CEO Helen Clarkson said in a statement. “They are enabling their customers to play a key part in accelerating the roll out of electric vehicles overall.”