Brussels, 10/03/2008 (Agence Europe) - At the European Retail Round Table on Monday 10 March 2008, 14 big household retail names - Ahold, Asda/Wal-Mart, C&A, Carrefour, Delhaize, DSG international, El Corte Inglés, H&M, IKEA, Inditex, Kingfisher, Marks&Spencer, Metro Group and Tesco - announced that they had committed to promoting energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy in their business to help combat global warming. As part of this voluntary commitment, the retailers pledge to 1) cut energy consumption in their premises by at least 20% per square metre by 2020; 2) meet and exceed a target of 20% of primary energy consumption coming from renewable sources by 2020; 3) identify and exchange best practice in energy saving in their supply chains; 4) explore new ways of providing information on the energy efficiency of products sold and encouraging manufacturers to explore new forms of energy efficiency labelling; and 5) share information about the most effective means of communicating energy consumption information and consumer energy saving behaviour. The companies also pledge to examine progress each year. The initiative was welcomed by Andris Piebalgs, commenting: "The EU commitment to mitigate climate change doesn't only concern national governments. If we are to succeed, the commitments to reduce our CO2 emissions must also be adopted by civil society and market actors. This initiative deserves all the more praise given the fact that it has been launched jointly by major actors in a fiercely competitive market". (E.H.)