Sustainable Retail Index
Supporting the sustainable evolution of retail
The Sustainable Retail Index (SRI) is an innovative assessment tool that provides detailed insights into the progress retailers make on their sustainability commitments.
The SRI aims at supporting the sustainable evolution of retail and providing more transparency. The index enables to evaluate our retail offer from a sustainability perspective and engage with retailers on the evolution of their responsible practices.
To develop the SRI, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield partnered with Good On You, a leading sustainability ratings platform for the retail sector. Leveraging URW's industry influence and Good On You's expertise and the technical and critical expertise of WWF, the SRI was launched in 2023 as a key component of the evolution of our sustainability plan – Better Places – to address growing consumer demand for sustainable consumption.
How the SRI works
The SRI provides a dynamic and detailed view on retailers sustainability commitments and performance.
It assesses retailers in two ways, each of which makes up the SRI score:
Brand rating (making up 75% of the SRI Score): Each brand is assessed on up to 1,000 data points across critical social and environmental issues, based on publicly disclosed information. Learn how Good On You rates brands
In-store practices (25% of the SRI score): store level data examines consumer-facing retail practices, gathered by an external auditor in each shopping centre.
What SRI labels mean
Each retailer receives one of five labels, relative to the best performers within the same industry:
Leader (5/5): retailers consistently outperforming peers, setting industry standards on best practice sustainability initiatives and transparency
Advanced (4/5): above average retailers, actively contributing to the industry’s transition to more sustainable practices
Active (3/5): retailers transparent about their sustainability initiatives and making progress on one or more key areas.
Starter (2/5): retailers showing some progress on transparency and beginning to engage in sustainability
Inactive (1/5): retailers are not meeting standards or being transparent on their sustainability initiatives, with no commitment to improvement
While Group and regional level SRI scores will be shared annually, individual retailers scores are not disclosed publicly but support discussions with our partners on their sustainability transition.
What’s next
In 2024, the SRI was extended, in addition to the fashion sector1, to the beauty and the services sectors2, for which methodologies were developed in 2023 and 2024 respectively, with evaluations conducted in 2024.
Consequently, URW achieved a coverage of 70% of eligible European revenue3, in line with its 2024 target. Additionally, the SRI was also extended to the Group's American portfolio. At the Group level, the SRI covers 66% of eligible revenue3 and represents approximately 3,900 stores and 1,000 brands.
URW is actively developing the SRI, with the aim of increasing coverage by developing new methodologies by the end of 2027, in sectors such as Home, Technology, Food and Beverage services and Multibrand.
We are actively developing the methodology, with a target of covering all of the following sectors by the end of 2027: Home, Culture & Technology, Food & Beverage Services.
To find out more, contact sri@urw.com
Find out more about Good on You