It’s exactly three years since the United Nations came to Glasgow to hold its COP26 conference on climate change. It was exhilarating to see so many countries come together in Scotland’s largest city to deliver tangible progress and momentum towards tackling the climate crisis.

Progress since however has not always been smooth. The economic and social hangover from Covid and the subsequent conflict in Ukraine and resulting cost-of-living crunch – amongst other global factors – have often taken up the focus and energies of policymakers.

However, from the outset retailers were clear about the route forward and the need to build the net-zero retail industry of tomorrow, regardless of the myriad immediate pressures facing the sector. Solid progress has been made towards fulfilling the industry’s ambition, set out the year before COP26 in the Retail Consortium’s Climate Action Roadmap, to make the sector and its supply chains carbon neutral by 2040.

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Leading retail brands – including the likes of Schuh, Scotmid, Seasalt, and Tesco – not only committed collectively to putting climate action at the heart of their decision-making, but are beavering away on achieving it. It won’t be easy, especially as these firms have pledged to decarbonise stores, deliveries, logistics and products by 2040, whilst helping customers to live low-carbon lifestyles.

As the industry’s trade body we’ve spent the past few years ensuring these firms have the tools they need, through benchmarking, guidance, seminars, and workshops.

Retail is taking its environmental responsibilities seriously. This explains why the industry is simultaneously acting on nature and biodiversity loss too.

Retailers increasingly recognise that a thriving, stable, and biodiverse natural environment and eco-system underpins their current and future operations. Implementing sustainable business practices is about conservation and the husbanding of our natural resources as well as decarbonising; moreover action on the former can help mitigate carbon emissions.

To be able to continue to sell the range of products we have today, the industry must ensure it helps protect and regenerate the Earth’s finite resources.

Nature and biodiversity have shot up the business agenda as retailers seek to build more resilient and sustainable long-term supply chains, whilst responding to increasing demand from customers and legislators.

Last month we published a Plan For Nature, backed by MSPs from across the political spectrum, to help the industry on its journey towards comprehensive action and becoming nature positive. This includes webinars and events to demystify the relationship between retail and nature and help aid understanding of the challenges; assistance to help shopkeepers measure their impact on nature and minimise biodiversity loss; and advice on how to develop strategies and set and achieve transparent targets.

Getting to grips with the issue isn’t straightforward. Even ensuring accurate data collection from a retailer’s own operations - let alone the full spectrum of suppliers - isn’t simple, nor is navigating new regulatory and reporting requirements.

These reporting requirements come as governments seek to deliver on new global targets and implement and enforce rules on sourcing from deforested areas, bans on the sale of peat and microplastics, and ensuring sustainable fisheries. The new UK Government says it wants to be the most nature-positive administration we’ve ever had, halting and indeed reversing the loss of habitats and species. It’s even put the issue at the heart of its foreign policy and appointed an international ambassador for nature.

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Meanwhile, from our research shoppers tell us they want brands to help them make better choices and to live sustainably, and are prepared to back their ethics with their custom.

Changing the way retailers operate is never easy. It will require huge investments of time, effort, and money which is trickier to find when statutory costs like employers’ national insurance contributions and business rates are being hiked.

It will also require a supportive framework from government at a time when stores are already grappling with new policy initiatives including extended producer responsibility for packaging - which is due to come into effect next year - plans for a levy on disposable cups, and the deposit return scheme for drinks bottles and cans due in 2027.

Ultimately, however, it makes good business sense. Retailers see themselves as part of the solution and are determined to bring about the zero-carbon and nature positive future we all want and need.

David Lonsdale is director of the Scottish Retail Consortium.