London, Oct 16 - Tesco, the world's No.3 retailer, set a target on Friday to become a zero-carbon business by 2050, without purchasing offsets, and unveiled a series of measures to boost environmentally-aware shopping.
Speaking at the launch of a new report by Manchester University's Sustainable Consumption Institute, Tesco Chief Executive Terry Leahy said targets and technology alone would not achieve the transition to low-carbon economies.
Consumers have to be part of the solution and businesses would benefit from encouraging them, he said.
"A low-carbon strategy is also vital if we are to minimize the risk to our business: the physical threat of climate damage to our supply chains, the resulting economic damage, and the serious effects of rushed and inefficient regulation if we fail to act in time and governments are forced to take draconian action," he said.
The British supermarket group said it aimed to achieve a 30 percent reduction by 2020 in the carbon impact of the products in its supply chain, starting in Britain.
For consumers, it announced a "Buy One Get One Free - Later" strategy, which will also them to pick up their free product when they need it, helping to keep waste down.
It will also introduce a home energy service to give advice on insulation and renewable sources of energy, and to carry out the work needed.