Lidl sustainability score: 38/100
Lidl is a German discount supermarket retailer operating 12,000+ stores across 32 countries. Founded in 1973 and headquartered in Neckarsulm, it is the primary operating subsidiary of the private Schwarz Group.
More about Lidl
A major player in food retail with significant private-label penetration and supply chain influence.
Founded 1973Head office Neckarsulm, GermanyStaff ~178,741 (2019)Revenue ~€167B (Schwarz Group FY2024)Website ↗
Lidl has achieved substantial operational emissions cuts (52–60% since 2019) through renewable electricity, but Scope 3—over 90% of its footprint—lacks year-on-year reduction evidence. A deliberate target downgrade from 80% to 70% by 2030 due to newly founded Tailwind Shipping Lines signals emissions creep. Greenwashing complaints on carbon-neutral products and weak meat/dairy climate action undermine credibility.
Lidl scores 38/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified May 2026.
That places Lidl joint 460th of 934 companies scored, and joint 26th of 50 in Retail (non-fashion).
What is Lidl doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Energy Source (7/10, 7/10). Weakest on Water Impact and Carbon Footprint: Supply Chain (4/10, 5/10).
Where Lidl lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations7/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain5/10Most of its supply-chain (Scope 3) emissions aren't measured.
- Whether its emissions are falling5/10No evidence of a year-on-year fall in its total emissions.
- How clean its energy is7/10Less than 90% of its energy shown to be renewable.
- Its effect on nature5/10Its 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 targets7/10Its targets aren't validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports6/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
- Its record on controversies6/10Points 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 Lidl's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Lidl's score based on?
21 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
29% of them were published by Lidl itself; the rest come from independent sources.
15 of 21 sources are independent of the company.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Lidl compare with other retail (non-fashion) companies?
Where Lidl sits among retail (non-fashion) peers.
Among the 50 major retail (non-fashion) brands we've scored, Lidl is tied =26th of 50, with 1 other.
Who scores higher in Retail (non-fashion)?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Lidl.
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 →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 →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 →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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