Climate Change

Global climate change is a long-term crisis that will affect us all, and we aim to reduce our contribution to this emergency while also supporting systemic changes.

While there are emissions associated with many areas of our business, as a fashion retailer, a large portion of the emissions we generate that contribute to climate change come from our purchased goods and services. We're in the process of setting a science-based target that will help us reduce our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. (Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from sources we own or control, like driving company cars. Scope 2 and 3 emissions are indirect emissions that result from our activities but are controlled by other companies, like lighting, heating and cooling our stores, or the products we design and manufacture.)

We've publicly reported our energy use and Scope 1 and 2 emissions to CDP Climate Change since 2015. As reported in our 2019 disclosure, in 2018 our Scope 1 emissions were 51,024 metric tons, and our Scope 2 emissions were 204,888 metric tons, within our owned and operated facilities.

One way we aim to reduce emissions is through efficient transportation. We strive to use intermodal transportation (a combination of truck and rail), and we're using compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks where we can. Through our GainShare program, we're able to reward our drivers for increasing their miles per gallon during hauls. And by changing the way we load our trucks, we can fit more cartons of merchandise into each truck, which means fewer trips. Read more about our Supply Chain and Transportation.

We also partner with Forterra, a nonprofit organization focused on protecting and conserving natural and working landscapes in Washington State's Central Cascades and Olympic regions. Specifically, we're a member of Forterra's Evergreen Carbon Capture Program, through which we offset 100% of the carbon emissions of all Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack stores in the Puget Sound region by planting and maintaining tree restoration sites in Everett, Seattle and Tacoma, Washington.

We've reduced the amount of energy we use per square foot in our facilities by doing things like installing more efficient LED lighting. Through the use of remote monitoring, we're able to further improve the efficiency of our lighting and HVAC systems, ensuring that they're only operating when needed. All of these things lower our energy usage per square foot. From 2015 to 2020, we reduced our energy use per square foot by 20.3%. We're also purchasing more renewable energy; in 2019, in deregulated markets where we operate, 97% of our energy came from renewable sources. This means 27.9% of the energy we use in North America is from renewable sources.