Tesco sustainability score: 38/100
Better than 51% of Retail (non-fashion)
Making progress starts at 46. The highest score on SINK is 71.
Tesco is the UK's largest grocery retailer, operating over 3,400 stores across the UK and Ireland. Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, it generates £54bn+ annual revenue and employs 423,000 people.
More about Tesco
It is a conventional public limited company with extensive exposure to agricultural supply chain risks.
Founded 1919Head office Welwyn Garden City, United KingdomStaff ~423,092 (2020)Revenue ~£68B (FY2024/25)Website ↗
Tesco has credible operational decarbonization (65% Scope 1+2 reduction, 100% renewable electricity) but supply chain emissions—98% of its footprint—remain largely unquantified and unverified. Material failures persist: deforestation pledges broken, River Wye pollution linked to its chicken supply chain, ASA ruling on greenwashing, and alleged suppression of critical WWF reporting.
Tesco scores 38/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified October 2026.
That places Tesco joint 479th of 1,023 companies scored, and joint 26th of 54 in Retail (non-fashion).
What is Tesco doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Energy Source (8/10, 7/10). Weakest on Nature & Biodiversity Impact and Water Impact (4/10, 4/10).
Where Tesco lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Its effect on natureMeasure its effect on nature and have it independently verified.
- Its effect on waterMeasure its water footprint and set reduction targets.
- Emissions from its supply chainMeasure most of its supply-chain (Scope 3) emissions.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations8/10No verified figures published with their method and a falling trend.
- Emissions from its supply chain5/10Most of its supply-chain (Scope 3) emissions aren't measured.
- Whether its emissions are falling6/10No consistent fall over several years across its operations and supply chain.
- How clean its energy is7/10Less than 90% of its energy shown to be renewable.
- Its effect on nature4/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste6/10No verified figures for reuse and recycling across the business.
- Its effect on water4/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets7/10No validated long-term net zero target.
- How openly it reports6/10No mission-locked structure, such as B Corp certification.
- Its record on controversies5/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Tesco's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Tesco's score based on?
12 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
42% of them were published by Tesco itself; the rest come from independent sources.
7 of 12 sources are independent of the company.
“Scope 1 emissions 802,425 tonnes; Scope 2 market-based 5,497 tonnes of CO₂e”
“Scope 1 (tonnes of CO2e) 802,425; Scope 2(a) Market-based method (tonnes of CO2e) 5,497”
“73.1 million tCO2e/year reported in 2024/25”
“100% of electricity came from renewable sources”
“selected-data limited assurance by Deloitte LLP”
“Tesco focused its TNFD LEAP assessment on the business' palm oil supply chain”
“Tesco has been accused of greenwashing after selling Brazilian meat despite promising to ban it over deforestation”
“Illegal deforestation and forest fires in the Amazon are linked to its chicken and pork production”
“PPAs will cover 45% of Tesco UK's electricity demand or 36% of the Group's expected 2030 electricity demand”
“The agreement, facilitated by EDF, secures 65% of the solar power generated from the Cleve Hill Solar Park”
“a significant factor in the increase in poultry production in the region after 2018 was in order to meet the chicken meat demands of Tesco”
“In the Tesco case, the complaints were upheld — ASA held that specific advertisements breached BCAP and CAP Code rules on environmental claims”
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How does Tesco compare with other retail (non-fashion) companies?
Where Tesco sits among retail (non-fashion) peers.
Among the 54 major retail (non-fashion) brands we've scored, Tesco is tied =26th of 54, with 1 other.
Who scores higher in Retail (non-fashion)?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Tesco.
Ingka cut its own operational emissions sharply and has SBTi-approved targets, but for FY25 it left out the product and food emissions that make up about 81% of its footprint, so progress on its headline target can't be shown.
See the breakdown →John Lewis Partnership's own emissions fell to 88,598 tCO2e in its year to January 2026, about 40% below 2020/21, and KPMG assures them; its electricity is renewable under certificates and most of its heavy trucks run on biomethane.
See the breakdown →Morrisons reports Scope 1 and 2 emissions of about 404,000 tCO2e, down about 5.5% year on year, but Scope 3 totals remain unpublished.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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