Carbon and climate – Retail

Reducing its carbon footprint is imperative to Primark meeting its environmental commitments and ensuring it does its part to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Solar panels on the roof of a Primark supplier factory, Bangladesh

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy and renewables

As part of its Primark Cares strategy, Primark has set a target to achieve a 50% reduction in absolute Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, from a 2019 base year.

In addition, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has validated Primark’s near-term target to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions and absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services respectively by 50% by 2030 from a 2019 baseline. These targets align with commitments Primark has made through the UNFCCC Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action (FICCA) and the UK Textiles Pact by WRAP (formerly Textiles 2030).

In 2025, Primark achieved a 4% decrease in emissions across Scope 1, 2 (market-based), and 3 compared to 2024 and a 6% decrease against its 2019 baseline.

For more detail on how Primark aims to achieve its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reduction targets, please see its Transition Plan below.

Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, energy and renewables

In 2025, Primark decreased its Scope 1 and 2 market-based GHG emissions by 39% compared to 2024 and by 71% compared with its 2019 baseline. This marks the second consecutive year that these emissions have remained below the threshold of its science-based target. This reduction was achieved mainly in its Scope 2 GHG emissions, through energy efficiency measures in its stores and the procurement of renewable
and low-carbon electricity.

Primark aims to source 100% renewable electricity by 2030, in line with the FICCA. In 2025, 76% of electricity used in Primark operations came from renewable energy sources, up from 64% in the previous year. Most of this electricity was purchased from the grid through renewable energy certificates (RECs) that meet the RE100 criteria. Where possible, Primark is transitioning to power purchase agreements, which help finance new renewable energy capacity. However, this remains challenging in certain regions and may not be possible across its total store estate.

Since 2022, Primark has been rolling out a multi-year project to retrofit stores with LED lighting. As of July 2025, the project had covered 323 stores with an average electricity saving of 35% compared to pre-implementation levels. The business continues to identify opportunities to improve energy efficiency and reduce its carbon footprint. A network of Energy Champions operates across its stores, offices and distribution centres to drive energy efficiency. All its stores and distribution centres are certified to ISO 50001 energy management standard.

Scope 1 and 2 (market-based) GHG emissions (000 tonnes of CO₂e, % of total)

	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Scope 1	20	21	21	23	18
Scope 2 (market-based)	137	111	76	54	28

Scope 3 GHG emissions (000 tonnes of CO₂e)

	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Retail	4606	6452	7019	6211	5993

Scope 3 GHG emissions

Primark is dedicated to minimising the environmental impact of its products throughout the supply chain. Although it does not own manufacturing facilities, Primark works closely with suppliers to align their practices with its environmental goals.

In 2025, Primark’s absolute Scope 3 emissions decreased by 3% compared to 2024 and against its 2019 baseline. Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services, which underpin Primark’s science-based target, totalled 4,595tCO₂e in 2025, and decreased by 4% compared to 2024, though these emissions remain 2% above the baseline.

Primark has requested its top 100 suppliers, which together accounted for approximately 79% of its procurement spend for goods for resale in 2025, to set climate targets. This initiative enables Primark to recognise and reward supplier efforts while aiming to accelerate progress for decarbonisation.

To support suppliers in meeting these targets, Primark has been investing in supplier factory efficiency measures through targeted training, upskilling and energy-saving projects under its Primark Resource Efficiency Programme. Delivered in partnership with external consultants, this programme helps suppliers identify opportunities to use energy, water and chemicals more efficiently, reducing both GHG emissions and operating costs across its suppliers’ tier one, two and three factories¹.

Between 2022 and 2025, Primark piloted the programme across 97 factories in Bangladesh, China and India. Recent assessments showed an annual saving of 49,400tCO₂e in GHG emissions and of 822,000 m³ in water usage across 28 participating factories. Building on these results, Primark developed a tailored approach for each factory to maximise efficiency and it is setting long term factory plans for continued progress.

Alongside the work on factory efficiency, Primark is developing initiatives to support suppliers switching to renewable energy. Much of this work focuses on providing suppliers with the information needed to make informed investment decisions and facilitating their participation in third party schemes. For example, in China, Primark partnered with HSBC and the China Climate Fund to sponsor a study under the China National Textile and Apparel Council assessing the feasibility of direct investment into renewable energy projects for textile industry decarbonisation.

Primark is also working to reduce GHG emissions from upstream transportation. The business primarily ships products by sea rather than air, resulting in comparatively lower GHG emissions for the longest leg of transport. Since 2018, Primark has partnered with Maersk to ship its products from factories to depots. Through this partnership, Primark invests in Maersk’s ECO Delivery Ocean product which uses fossil fuel alternatives such as biofuels, which emit approximately 40% less GHG emissions annually than traditional fuel.

In 2025, Primark began working with Maritime Transport in the UK to transition its road freight fuel from diesel to HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil), which is a lower carbon fuel alternative. During 2025, Primark saved approximately 4,700tCO₂e of Scope 3 emissions in its UK logistics operations.

1.Tier one: factories manufacturing finished goods. Tier two: factories which provide materials and services to Tier one factories. Tier three: producers of raw materials.

Primark's transition plan

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Primark’s Transition Plan

Governance

A comprehensive governance system has been established at Primark in relation to ESG matters, including the delivery of the commitments related to its Primark Cares strategy (see Strategy, metrics and targets below), which aligns to Primark’s transition plan (the “Plan”) in the medium term.

There has been no change in this position from last year. The Primark Leadership Team led by the Interim Chief Executive Officer remains responsible and accountable for all decision-making and implementation of the Plan. Effective since the prior reporting year, ESG-associated performance incentives are extended to Primark directors and wider senior leadership. The overall remuneration package includes a percentage tied to ESG performance, including climate. This remuneration element is payable in deferred ABF shares to promote alignment with Primark’s commitment to become a more sustainable and circular business. Please refer to Primark’s most recent Sustainability and Ethics Progress Report for a more detailed understanding of the ESG governance structure.

Risk management

Over the course of 2025, Primark has launched the development of a climate risk management framework through a cross-functional, multi-stakeholder process that involves representatives of Primark’s Leadership Team and wider senior leadership from key areas of the business, as well as the ABF Group. Activities covered:

a refreshed scenario analysis to assess climate risks across Primark’s upstream value chain and own operations, identifying material risks in the relevant time horizons;
for material risks identified, a review of risk owners and risk controls was initiated to ultimately feed into Primark’s risk management process.

Primark plans to continue and expand the above activities into the next financial year.

Strategy, metrics and targets

In 2021, Primark launched its Primark Cares strategy building on the work of its Ethical Trade and Environmental Sustainability (‘ETES’) programme. Under the strategy, Primark has set out a number of public commitments up to 2030 which are aimed at supporting our transition to a lower-carbon economy¹. As such, in the medium-term Primark’s Plan aligns to the Primark Cares strategy. Currently Primark does not include carbon offsets in the Plan. Primark plans to review its ESG strategy in 2026 to make sure it stays focused on the areas where it can make the most meaningful difference.

GHG emissions baseline and targets

Under Primark Cares, the business has set an overarching objective to halve carbon emissions across its value chain by 2030 from a 2019 base year. Within the same timeframe, Primark set Science-Based Targets committing to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions¹ by 50% and also reduce absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services by 50%. The SBTi has classified Primark’s Scope 1 and 2 target ambition as in line with a 1.5-degree trajectory. Under the UNFCCC Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action (‘FICCA’), Primark has pledged to achieve net zero emissions no later than 2050. The organisation is working to define a plan to reach this long-term goal, taking into consideration uncertainties beyond 2030 in technology development and innovation, as well as the political and regulatory global landscape.

Primark’s baseline GHG emissions (2019) (tCO₂e, % of total emissions)


Total scope 1, 2 and 3	6.41m
Scope 1 and 2 (location-based)	2.5%
Scope 3	97.5%
Of which:
Purchased goods and services	76.4%
Capital goods	2.0%
Fuel and energy-related activities	0.6%
Upstream transportation	8.1%
Waste generated in operations	0.1%
Business travel	0.2%
Use of sold products	12.1%
End-of-life treatment of sold products	0.6%

1.As referenced in the TCFD Guidance on Metrics, Targets and Transition Plans.

Critical path to 2030

To achieve our 2030 decarbonisation commitments, Primark has developed a critical path aligned with broader business strategy for the same period. The path leverages a series of combined decarbonisation levers to achieve critical reductions in Primark’s emissions, focusing on the most material emissions sources for scope 3 as described below.

Supply chain energy procurement and consumption: product manufacturing and related energy consumption represents the biggest contributor to Primark’s emissions. However, similar to other clothing retailers, the business does not own any of the factories in its supply chain. To tackle emissions from this source, Primark plans to leverage minimum environmental performance requirements for suppliers and further develop its country-specific programmes. These support key suppliers and factories to improve their energy efficiency performance and transition to renewable energy, for example through on-site energy audits.

Raw materials: extraction of raw materials used in products is the second key contributor to Primark’s emissions in the supply chain. Under Primark Cares, the business has pledged:

to use more regenerative farming practices through its own Primark Cotton Project by 2030;
that all its clothes will be made from recycled or more sustainably sourced materials by 2030, including cotton from its Primark Cotton Project.

The achievement of the targets above is expected to contribute to the decarbonisation of Primark’s material mix.

Distribution mode optimisation and fuel switching: emissions related to transporting goods from suppliers to Primark depots, and from depots to Primark stores, represent the third key contributor to Primark’s baseline emissions in the supply chain. Primark already ships most of its products by sea freight, which has a lower environmental impact than air transport.

Primark has launched a partnership with its shipping partner Maersk to use more sustainable fuel alternatives, such as Maersk’s Eco Delivery Ocean biofuel, instead of fossil fuel, when shipping Primark products. The biofuel must be certified by a third party to verify that the stated GHG emissions savings are accurate. Once certified, it is blended with conventional fuel and used on Maersk shipping vessels.

Primark’s own energy procurement and consumption: emissions from running Primark stores, offices and distribution centres, as well as the corporate fleet, represent a small fraction of Primark’s emissions but is also where Primark has the most direct influence and can impact change. Initiatives in this area will continue to focus on energy efficiency improvements, like LED fitting of Primark stores, and scaling low-carbon energy²procurement. Under the UNFCCC FICCA, Primark is committed to secure 100% of electricity from renewable sources with minimal other environmental or social impacts, for owned and operated (Scope 2) emissions by 2030. The business plans to reach this goal in line with RE100³ and GHG Protocol guidelines.

Capital investment

Primark’s funding model for the Plan includes various elements. Capital expenditure is allocated to improve the energy efficiency of Primark’s assets: for example, the total investment to date in LED retro-fitting of 176 UK stores amounts to approximately £60m. In addition, the company pays a price premium to procure lower impact goods and services, such as raw materials to use in Primark products, and renewable power for stores and transport fuel. For example, to date Primark has invested more than £4m in Maersk’s Eco Delivery Ocean biofuel initiative. Lastly, for other initiatives such as supply chain energy procurement and consumption, Primark funds enabling activities, like energy audits.

2.Low-carbon refers to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions than conventional energy sources. There are four main types of low-carbon energy: wind, solar, hydro or nuclear power.

3.RE100 is the global corporate renewable energy initiative bringing together hundreds of large and ambitious businesses committed to using 100% renewable electricity.

Progress to date

This year, the business saw a 6% reduction in total emissions (market-based) compared to base year and a 3% reduction compared to previous year. Please refer to pages 63 to 64 of the ABF Annual Report for more detailed commentary.

Target: Halve carbon emissions across our value chain by 2030 from a 2019 base year


	KPI	Base Year*	Previous Year*	Current Year*	Current Year vs Baseline	Methodology
Decarbonisation levers		5.2	5.2	5.0	(4)%	We have developed detailed reporting guidance in line with the GHG Protocol, covering estimations, calculation methodologies and assumptions. Annual emission calculations are in scope of EY limited assurance.
Supply chain energy procurement and consumption	Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services – Tier 1, 2, 3	3.6	3.8	3.4	(7)%
Raw materials	Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services – Tier 4	0.9	1.0	1.2	37%
Distribution mode optimisation and fuel switching	Scope 3 emissions from upstream transportation	0.5	0.3	0.3	(39)%
Primark’s energy procurement and consumption	Scope 1 and 2 emissions (market-based)**	0.2	0.1	0.0	(71)%
Other Scope 3 categories		1.2	1.1	1.1	(13)%
Total value chain emissions (Scope 1, 2 and 3 market-based)**		6.4	6.3	6.0	(6)%

*Expressed in mln tCO₂e.

**Scope 2 figures for 2019 to 2022 represent location-based emissions. For the purpose of reporting against targets, Primark has been tracking Scope 2 (market-based) since 2023.

Assumptions, uncertainties and challenges

Data availability: as mentioned, the majority of Primark’s emissions occur in our wider value chain. Sourcing and collating data on these impacts is evolving as the business progresses its decarbonisation programme and improves data around product traceability. Primark is increasing the amount of data sourced from suppliers, which is incorporated into the scope 3 calculation, but it still also relies on industry average data for many of the impacts assessed as part of this calculation. These data limitations should be considered when reading and interpreting the results and critical path presented above.
Supply chain management: Primark’s supply chain is global and complex, and this can affect the success rate and scaling potential of Primark’s decarbonisation programme. The business is working to rationalise its supplier base while also tackling supply chain emissions, which might result in progress variability in the immediate term but ultimately will enable more effective deployment of projects and programmes in the medium term.
Regulatory landscape: Primark is aware of the ever-changing complexity of the national, regional and global regulatory landscapes in which it operates. Dedicated personnel across the business, centrally and regionally, monitor the regulatory landscape to incorporate any relevant developments and their impacts into the Plan as and when needed.
Innovation gap: in addition to the decarbonisation levers currently included in this Plan, Primark continues to explore the decarbonisation potential of other initiatives under the Primark Cares strategy, including circular design and extending the durability of our clothes. Moreover, Primark recognises that innovations will be needed to meet its decarbonisation targets, and Primark acknowledges it has a role to play to support the development of these from pilot to scale.

Solar panels on the roof of a Primark supplier factory, Bangladesh

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Carbon and climate – Retail

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy and renewables

Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, energy and renewables

Scope 1 and 2 (market-based) GHG emissions (000 tonnes of CO₂e, % of total)