SBTi Validation Confirms: Companies of Schwarz Group Are on Track for Climate Action

• Climate action as a competitive advantage: Sustainable management ensures the long-term future viability of business models
• Net zero target: All greenhouse gases produced along the entire value chain will be reduced to net zero by 2050 at the latest
• Scope 3 as a challenge: Joint transformation with suppliers as a decisive lever in climate action

Neckarsulm, January 22, 2026 — The companies of Schwarz Group have reached another decisive milestone in their jointly developed climate strategy: The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has validated the net zero target by 2050 and thus also the long-term climate targets of the trade group. This officially confirms the alignment of the jointly adopted climate strategy of the companies of Schwarz Group with the latest scientific findings. After joining the SBTi in 2020, the companies of Schwarz Group made a joint commitment in 2024 to reduce all greenhouse gases produced along the entire value chain to net zero by 2050 at the latest. The independent validation by the SBTi now proves that the companies of Schwarz Group are on the right track and are making an effective contribution to climate action with their commitment. The retail group joins a group of more than 10,000 companies worldwide with SBTi-validated climate targets - a record that the voluntary initiative of the CDP, the UN Global Compact, the World Resources Institute and the WWF announced today.

Climate Action as the Basis for Economic Efficiency

“In times of political volatility and controversial discourse on the relevance of the green transformation, climate protection must not become a pawn. Committed action is becoming the key indicator of competitiveness and resilience right now,” says Florian Schütze, Member of the Executive Board, Corporate Responsibility at Schwarz Corporate Affairs. “For us, sustainable management is the strategic answer to the energy and resource issues of our time and is crucial for safeguarding our business models in the long term. The success of our climate strategy is based on strong, trusting partnerships along the entire value chain — because climate action is not a single discipline.” For this reason, the companies of Schwarz Group consistently use their size as a multiplier: over 1,000 partners in the supply chain have already been called on to set their own climate goals according to the SBTi standards by the end of 2026.

As a leading ecosystem — from production and retail to recycling and digitalization — the companies of Schwarz Group are jointly pursuing a holistic and cross-divisional climate strategy with ambitious, long-term goals in accordance with the SBTi on their way to net zero: By 2050, operational emissions in Scope 1 and 2 will be reduced by 90% (base year 2019). In Scope 3, forestry, land and agricultural emissions (FLAG) will be reduced by 72% and emissions from energy and industrial processes (E&I) and emissions from fuels sold will be reduced by 90% by 2050 (base year 2022). The short-term climate targets up to 2030 and 2034 were already reviewed and validated by the SBTi in spring 2025, the long-term targets were then validated in the fall of last year.

Focus on Scope 3: the Complex Challenge of the Supply Chain

As a trading group, the companies of Schwarz Group record around 98% of their CO₂ emissions in the upstream and downstream value chain (Scope 3). Despite the challenging complexity due to limited influence, multi-layered supply chains and insufficient data availability, the companies of Schwarz Group identify a decisive lever for climate action here. They therefore rely on strategic and trusting partnerships, targeted investments in future technologies and a valid database in order to consistently drive forward the reduction of emissions in the supply chain and the transformation of nutrition and agriculture. Lidl, Kaufland and Schwarz Produktion are proving that climate-conscious nutrition is a real alternative with their sustainable and innovative product and range design.

Schwarz Group’s retail divisions are currently demonstrating how sustainable business can work in practice at the Green Week in Berlin (January 16 to 25, 2026). At the leading international trade fair for the food industry, agriculture and horticulture, Kaufland and Lidl in Germany will be showing, among other things, how they are making climate-conscious nutrition accessible, affordable and tasty — from the consistent expansion of regional offerings to price parity for plant-based alternatives.

Additional Information

For further information, please visit www.gruppe.schwarz or read the current sustainability report from the companies of Schwarz Group at www.nhb.schwarz.

Press Contact

Schwarz Corporate Affairs GmbH & Co. KG

Telephone +49 (0)7132 30788600

presse@mail.schwarz

About Schwarz Group

Schwarz Group is an international leader in the retail industry with some 14,200 stores and 595,000 employees. In the 2024 fiscal year, the companies of Schwarz Group generated a total sales volume of 175.4 billion euros. Their unique ecosystem lets them cover the full value cycle: from production and retail to recycling and digitalization. They create solutions to make peoples' lives safer, healthier and more sustainable, both right now and in the future – they act ahead.

Lidl and Kaufland form the pillars of the food retail market and are an integral part of customers' daily lives in 32 countries. Many of the own-brand products and much of the sustainable packaging come directly from Schwarz Produktion. Through its recycling management solutions, the environmental service provider PreZero promotes a functional circular economy and is investing in a clean future. The IT and digital division, Schwarz Digits, provides compelling digital products and services that meet the high German data protection standards, thus ensuring the maximum degree of digital sovereignty. As a partner service provider, Schwarz Corporate Solutions assists the companies of Schwarz Group with all matters related to administration, HR, operational activities and everything in between.