Your account manager at Coles raises sustainability: the group wants its suppliers to hold science-based emissions targets, and asks where you are. It sounds like a big commitment. Two questions follow: what is Coles actually asking, and what do you need to do about it?
About this guide
CO2 Lab is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or partnered with Coles Group. This guide explains their publicly stated supplier target, as at October 2026, to help suppliers respond, and is based on the sources linked below. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
What Coles is asking
Coles has a supplier-engagement target, approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, for 80% of its suppliers by spend to hold science-based emissions reduction targets by the end of FY29. That is an increase on the original FY24 target of 75% by FY27. The target covers purchased goods and services, upstream transport and distribution, capital goods, waste generated in operations, and upstream leased assets. In other words, most of what Coles buys, and most of who it buys from.
Because it is measured by spend, Coles works through its larger suppliers first. If you are material to a category, the request is coming.
The target at a glance
| What Coles asks | Detail |
|---|---|
| Supplier target | 80% of suppliers by spend hold science-based targets |
| Deadline | End of FY29, raised from the original 75% by FY27 |
| Categories | Purchased goods and services, upstream transport, capital goods, waste, upstream leased assets |
| Validation | Approved by the Science Based Targets initiative |
| Land sector | A further 30.3% cut in FLAG emissions by FY30 |
A target starts with a footprint
A science-based target is a commitment to reduce emissions on a defined path. You cannot set one without first knowing your footprint, so the practical first step is always the same: measure Scope 1 and 2 from your own records, honestly, with the method shown. For a food or produce supplier that includes the biological and energy lines; for a transport supplier it is fuel first. This is the same first footprint behind any customer's data request, and the same ask Woolworths is making of its suppliers.
“A target without a credible baseline is a guess with a deadline. The baseline is the work, and it is also what you would need for your own reporting anyway.”
Why the footprint comes firstHow to respond
A first response to Coles
- Build a Scope 1 and 2 footprint from your energy, fuel and activity records
- Apply the current NGA Factors, and show the method behind each figure
- Flag what is measured and what is estimated
- Use the baseline to set a reduction target aligned to the SBTi method
- Keep the source documents together, so the target is defensible
Turn the Coles request into a defensible baseline. What our AI Sustainability Analyst gives you:
Give Coles a baseline that stands up
Our AI Sustainability Analyst builds a Scope 1 and 2 footprint from your own records, with the method and evidence behind every figure, ready to set a target from.
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