Reporting on the first year of its Net Positive sustainability programme, Kingfisher says it has already made progress against its ambitious targets.
The group, which includes B&Q and Screwfix, launched the initiative in October 2012. It is designed to take Kingfisher beyond zero impact in terms of sustainability, going further than reducing impact, to adopting a restorative business philosophy.

For example, rather than just preventing deforestation, it means working towards net reforestation; and rather than just improving energy efficiency it means helping to create homes that are zero carbon or net energy generators.

At its launch, Kingfisher outlined the targets and ambitions against which the group's performance would be assessed, and announced four priorities for becoming Net Positive - timber, energy, innovation and communities - by 2050. Now, the company says it is on the way to meeting those targets.

Achievements include the fact that 89% of timber products are sourced from proven well-managed or recycled sources, while forest projects launched in Spain and the UK will restore undermanaged forests and woodlands, boost biodiversity and open up new sustainable sources of timber.

The group has saved over 5 TWh of energy for customers over two years through the sale of energy-saving products, while Kingfisher has reduced 10% of its own energy intensity. Twenty per cent of retail sales are also now from products with eco-credentials.

On the communities front, skills-sharing websites in France and the UK support local regeneration.

Kingfisher Group chief executive Ian Cheshire, commented: "Upon launching Net Positive, Kingfisher set out to raise the bar of the sustainable business model. Measuring the progress of our goals in this long-term ambition is paramount and we are pleased to report that, although this is just the first step in our long-term journey, we have already made great progress in meeting our targets."