Huge-mongous retailer Wal-Mart is back at its favorite activity of all time (besides counting its money and sprawlin’, of course): setting environmental goals for itself and its suppliers. At a company confab in Beijing, Wal-Mart execs promised a host of eco-improvements in the next few years. Soon, they said, suppliers will have to be certified by a third party to ensure they’re complying with local environmental and labor laws; suppliers will also have to start providing Wal-Mart with information on where all their products come from. Eventually, suppliers will also have to improve their energy efficiency and, by 2012, 95 percent of their products will have to come from factories that receive the highest ratings from Wal-Mart and third-party audits of environmental and social practices. Company spokesfolks also said that all 113 of Wal-Mart’s Chinese stores will aim to use 30 percent less energy by 2010. “I don’t expect people to immediately jump off their chairs and say this is wonderful,” said CEO Lee Scott. “There will be a healthy dose of skepticism on some people’s part.”
