Retail giant Massmart says it wants to do its bit for the environment — a move analysts say could make strategic sense.

Massmart, which operates more than 200 stores across the country, convened an internal brains trust last week to spread a better understanding of environmental change and to identify ways in to do business in a more environmentally friendly way.

Climate change and environmental degradation, which are being debated with increasing urgency, are expected to drastically affect the way we live in the next five decades. But analysts have not noted a significant trend of retailers going green.

Robert Scholes, a fellow of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, paints a bleak picture of the world in the next four decades. Over the past century, global temperatures have increased by about only 0,7°C, but in a worst-case scenario the world would get 5°C warmer over the next 40 years.

This, he says, threatened the continuation of organised society. “Life on earth will continue, but perhaps not with us operating as we would like.”

Massmart, with brands such as Builders Warehouse and Makro, has started to poll consumers about green products. It has compiled 40 marketresearch questions to put to its customers.

Corporate affairs executive Brian Leroni says that in about six months’ the company would have a clear indication of trends in buying behaviour.

He says sales of green items had not been spectacular and analysts say a move towards environment-friendly products is not a trend in retailing.

But one analyst says adopting a green policy could entice more customers into shops.

Informed consumers are concerned about the environment, he says, and prefer stores that offer green products.

“The environment is topical at the moment; people are becoming more aware.”

Massmart has developed its own environmental agenda. One issue is that Massmart should discuss waste disposal with its suppliers before the enactment of the Waste Management Bill.

Leroni says the list of green initiatives Massmart wants to implement is extensive — and it was unsure where to start. But it had audited its 40 suppliers on green issues and was considering analysing the energy efficiency of its stores and the biodegradability of its packaging.

Peet du Plooy, a project officer at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), says inadequate labelling makes it impossible for customers to differentiate between “sustainable” and “unsustainable” products.

“Consumers should be able to pick up a product and see what its carbon content is,” he says.

Du Plooy says there are moves afoot to develop adequately informative product labels. A large proportion of goods are poorly labelled, especially foods.

He says retailers are susceptible to consumer pressure. In a poll by the WWF to ascertain procurement preferences for green products among businesses, all the respondents said they would buy green products and half said they would pay more for such products. A poll by the University of SA made similar findings.

Peter Lukey, chief director of the air quality and climate change unit at the environmental affairs and tourism department, warns companies that “going green” may lead to them being accused of “greenwashing” and of not taking the environment seriously.

Lukey says the government has set up an interministerial committee to consider the effects of climate change.

“No matter what we do, climate change is with us. Even if we shut down all the power stations tomorrow, it will still be with us.”

Lukey says that educated consumers played a pivotal role in bringing about change, as was demonstrated when their collective voice rid much of the world of chloro-fluoro-carbon refrigerants and propellants a few years ago.

The cabinet has approved a long-term climate-change mitigation strategy and the environment department is developing worst- and best-case climate-change scenarios.

A draft set of scenarios should be completed by November, when it will be presented to senior ministers and industry.

Lukey said Finance Minister Trevor Manuel had invited the environment department to submit proposals for a green budget for next year.

For example, says Lukey, import duties on environment-friendly goods might be scrapped. However, this would first require clarity on what qualified as an environment friendly good.