Project Gigaton™ FAQs

Walmart was the first retailer with an emissions-reduction goal approved by the Science Based Target Initiative. According to the Science Based Target Initiative, targets adopted by companies to reduce GHG emissions are considered “science-based” if they are in line with the level of decarbonization required to keep global temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial temperatures, as described in the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR6).

As part of its goal, Walmart is working to reduce scope 1 and 2 absolute emissions in our own operations 35% by 2025 and 65% by 2030 (compared to 2015 levels). We plan to do that through various means, including adopting new energy efficiency measures, using lower carbon energy sources, and by powering 50% of our global operations with renewable energy sources by 2025 and 100% by 2035. Project Gigaton, which aims to avoid one billon metric tons of CO₂ emissions from global value chains by 2030, is the Scope 3 component of Walmart’s science-based emission target.

At Walmart, we believe that committing to emission reductions is both beneficial to the environment and good for business. We believe that the integration of sustainable practices into operations and sourcing can have the benefits of competitive advantage, technological innovation, brand loyalty, and increased employee engagement. For this reason, we encourage every Walmart supplier to join Project Gigaton™, showcase the impact they are having, and take advantage of recognition opportunities. If you have good stories to share about how Walmart or Project Gigaton has helped your company improve sustainability performance, please let us know at GigatonStories@walmart.com.

Suppliers that commit to SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time Limited) goals, report emissions reductions during the annual reporting period, and agree to share their logo and goals publicly will be eligible for recognition as Sparking Change or Giga-Guru suppliers. To reach the Sparking Change agent recognition status, a supplier must report and set a goal in at least one pillar. To reach Giga-Guru status, a supplier must report in at least three pillars and set goals in at least three pillars.

Walmart identified Energy, Nature, Waste, Packaging, Product Use, and Transportation as the focus for Project Gigaton™ because each of these “pillars” represents meaningful opportunities to avoid upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions across numerous product categories. Each of these six pillars is specific enough to focus work and report results, while also being broad enough to involve the wide variety of products and suppliers that make up the Walmart assortment.

If suppliers prefer to set a broad emissions goal that captures emissions reduction work across many areas, e.g. a science-based target or intensity emissions reduction goal, they may do so by entering this goal as “Other” during the Project Gigaton™ sign up process. Suppliers are invited to set a goal toward one or more Project Gigaton™ pillars and report achievements annually. Please see Reporting FAQs (below) for more information.

Yes, you must join Project Gigaton to participate, report progress, and be eligible for recognition opportunities. You only need to join once to be included in all future years of the program.

To join Project Gigaton™, simply click the Join Us button found throughout this website and complete the sign up process.

Suppliers can join Project Gigaton™ by setting a goal for their own operations and/or value chain, i.e. scope 1, 2, or 3 emissions.

If you’re not sure how to get started or set a goal, please use this website as a resource or seek a sustainability professional to help guide you. Specific goals can lead to substantially better returns; so, when setting a new goal, make sure it’s SMART. SMART goals are:

Specific – what’s your impact area?
Measurable – can you measure progress?
Achievable – is this a reasonable goal?
Relevant – does this fit into your strategy?
Time limited – by when?

This website offers “toolkits” of resources and information for each of the Project Gigaton™ pillars (Energy, Nature, Waste, Packaging, Product Use, and Transportation) to help suppliers get started or advance their existing work. In addition to being SMART, also consider whether your goals are ambitious enough to address the environmental challenges that we are facing globally.

Suppliers are responsible for ensuring all the information in their Project Gigaton™ account (goals, contacts, etc) remains current. Your company’s Project Gigaton™ status is made available to various teams at Walmart, including the buying and sourcing teams responsible for your product or service.

Each year, you’ll be asked to report your emissions reductions toward Project Gigaton™ – participation in this annual process impacts your recognition eligibility. Emissions reduction results should be reported through your Project Gigaton™ account each fall. Specific reporting dates will be announced on this site and via email to Project Gigaton™ suppliers each summer. More information on the annual survey questions can be found in each of the Project Gigaton™ pillar pages: Energy, Nature, Waste, Packaging, Product Use, and Transportation.

There is no cost to participate.

Yes, absolutely! You can Join Us by submitting an existing goal, or by setting a new one. However, we encourage all goals to be SMART goals:

Specific – what’s your impact area?
Measurable – can you measure progress?
Achievable – is this a reasonable goal?
Relevant – does this fit into your strategy?
Time limited – by when?

The timeline for your goal does not need to match the Project Gigaton™ program timeline. However, when reporting results each year, the earliest reporting period acceptable for inclusion in the 2022 reporting cycle is from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. For example, if your company’s goal and emissions reduction activities started in 2010, only the emissions reductions achieved after July 1, 2016 can be reported toward Project Gigaton™. It is the supplier’s responsibility to ensure that double counting does not occur from year to year.

Yes. You own your goals and may change or update them as your business requires it. To update your goals, update the Goals tab in your Project Gigaton™ account page with your new target. Re-assessment of your eligibility is automatic if the pre defined goals are used.

Supplier participation and reporting to Project Gigaton™ will not be made public without supplier permission. To set these permissions, update the Profile → Sharing Consent tab in your Project Gigaton™ account. We encourage all companies to make their participation and goals public in order to be more transparent and drive accountability. Suppliers must provide consent for logo and goal sharing in order to receive either Sparking Change or Giga Guru recognition status.

The goal you set is up to you – we welcome goals big, small, old and new, so please identify the right target for your organization. Consider selecting goals that are ambitious or “stretch” goals. We hope to see all suppliers build towards setting a science-based target.

Whatever type of goal you choose to pursue, we encourage all companies to make their goals SMART. SMART goals are:

Specific – what’s your impact area?
Measurable – can you measure progress?
Achievable – is this a reasonable goal?
Relevant – does this fit into your strategy?
Time limited – by when?

To avoid double counting, only direct “tier 1” suppliers of Walmart products and services, including suppliers to all global markets and banners (e.g. Asda, Sam’s Club), are eligible to join and report to Project Gigaton™. Other value chain members are encouraged to work through their eligible business partners to “get credit” for their emissions reduction activities as part of Project Gigaton™.

The pillars (Energy, Nature, Waste, Packaging, Product Use, and Transportation) are a menu of options for you to choose from – suppliers are invited to join one or multiple Project Gigaton™ pillars. If suppliers prefer to set a broad emissions reduction goal that captures emissions reduction efforts across many pillars, e.g. a science-based target or emissions intensity goal, they may do so by entering this goal as “Other” during the Project Gigaton™ sign up process.

While we did our best to identify pillars that would allow Project Gigaton™ to capture emission reduction contributions across the wide variety of products and suppliers, we recognize that your company may be undertaking activities that don’t fit within the Energy, Nature, Waste, Packaging, Product Use, and Transportation pillars as they’re scoped today.

If this is the case, you can still Join Us by entering this goal as “Other” during the Project Gigaton™ sign up process. You will need to calculate and report your aggregate emission reduction or avoidance each year using a credible methodology.

During a given reporting cycle, suppliers may report up to two years of data, split into separate 12-month submissions. Suppliers specify the starting and ending dates of the reporting period they choose to use; this may be based on the calendar year, the company’s fiscal year, or another convenient 12-month period. It is best practice to report the latest or most recent 12-month period for which it has data available, although there is no requirement that data submitted correspond to the year it was submitted (for example, suppliers can report 2017 data to the 2018 Project Gigaton™ reporting cycle). Each subsequent year’s data should use the same reporting period dates to avoid gaps or overlap with the prior year’s submissions.

The earliest reporting period acceptable for inclusion is from July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016. For suppliers reporting to the 2022 reporting cycle, the earliest possible reporting period will shift to July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020; each ‘earliest possible’ reporting period will shift accordingly for each future reporting cycle thereafter. This is intended to encourage continuous progress and delivery of more current results to Project Gigaton™.

If you’re a new supplier to Walmart, only emissions reductions from the year your company becomes a supplier to Walmart can be reported to Project Gigaton™.

Any amendments to reported data will be handled on a case-by-case basis. To start this process, please notify Walmart by emailing corpsu@wal-mart.com.

More information on the data you’ll be asked to report and methodology for converting this information into emissions can be found underneath the “How to calculate and report emissions saved” section of each “toolkit” found on this website (Energy, Nature, Waste, Packaging, Product Use, and Transportation) and in the Project Gigaton™ Accounting Methodology.

In order to use your CDP report in Project Gigaton™, you need to be requested by Walmart in the reporting year and report by the CDP scoring deadline. If your company has not been requested by Walmart and would like to be added to Walmart’s request list, please email SC.walmartstores@cdp.net.

Suppliers choose which emissions reductions to report toward Project Gigaton™. Project Gigaton™ does not require reported emissions to be attributed to Walmart in order to count towards the gigaton target.

THESIS is a scorecard developed by The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) which is designed to collect information on consumer product life cycles — from raw materials, sourcing, manufacturing and transporting, to selling, customer use and end of life. The results are then analyzed so Walmart can use them to benchmark supplier performance, identify risks, and focus suppliers on continuous improvement on sustainability “hot spots” across the entire product lifecycle.

Project Gigaton™ focuses only on measuring greenhouse gas emission reductions achieved by suppliers in the reporting year. In many cases, suppliers taking action to improve on certain Sustainability Index “hot spots” will achieve emissions reductions which can then be reported to Project Gigaton™. Project Gigaton™ is focused on elevating supplier goals and progress specifically tied to climate and GHG emissions reductions.