IKEA CEO: Why Leaders Are Essential For Sustainability Goals

In a conversation on Trellis’ ‘Two Steps Forward Podcast’ at Climate Week, Jesper Brodin, CEO of IKEA Ingka Group, shared that all leaders need “sustainability competence” – not just the Chief Sustainability Officer.

The 2025 Climate Week in New York from 21 - 28 September included over 900 events, activations, campaigns and engagement opportunities, according to the Climate Group.

With over 100,000 attendees, the theme of top-tier leadership stood out as a key focus for committing to sustainability.

Jesper said at the event: “The solution on how to resolve climate change is an economic and technical transformation. We need all leaders to collaborate because we’re in a hurry.”

Commenting on the importance of CEOs in sustainability, he said their commitment and understanding of ethical motivations and awareness of their reputation means “the impact climate smart businesses have on the future is CEO-led”.

IKEA’s commitments 

IKEA remains part of the solution to fighting climate change, with Jesper sharing that the company’s revenue has grown 24% since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015.

In particular, the company's absolute carbon – across Scope 1, 2 and 3 – is down more than 30% alongside this growth.

“There is an assumption that is very stubborn that sustainability would cost and come at a premium, when it’s the complete opposite,” said Jesper.

Explaining where IKEA’s carbon footprint lies, he explained that the biggest contributor is raw materials at 45%; the second largest is customers using the brand’s appliances and products at home at 14%; and production accounts for 11%.

“If you reduce energy in these staples, and implement renewable energy, you save a lot of cost”, Jesper added, “climate smart is resource smart is cost smart”.

This has been the CEO’s philosophy for a large part of his tenure, with him sharing in a post on LinkedIn in 2024 “this is the most important decade” and adding that the firm will “prove that the business case for investing in climate action works”.

According to IKEA, Lean Julle, Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), leads and contributes to the development of its sustainable products and solutions for IKEA customers around the world.

However, Jesper shared on the podcast that the business world has long passed the time when sustainability wholly belongs to the CSO: “Today, all leaders need digital competence and sustainability competence. It’s no longer an expertise field.”

Leading sustainable companies

Alongside IKEA, Joel Makower, one of the presenters of Trellis’ podcast, referenced Walmart and Unilever's execs as making bold sustainable commitments within their companies.

For over a decade, Lee Scott, former Walmart CEO, made sustainability commitments – including launching a strategy in 2008 called ‘Sustainability 360’.

This strategy outlined three strategies: to be supplied 100% by renewable energy; to create zero waste; and to sell products in ways that sustain resources and the environment.

Walmart said on 1 October that it is working to remove synthetic dyes from all its store-branded food, to promote moving away from processed foods.

Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever from 2009 to 2019, pushed the vision of making the company more sustainability focused.

He launched the firm’s Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, which set goals for improving its environmental footprint across its supply and value chains.

Building a sustainable future 

In August 2025, Jesper announced that he will be stepping down as CEO after nearly 30 years at the company in various roles.

In November 2025, he will be handing the role to his Deputy CEO Juvencio Maeztu, who has been tasked with the challenge of continuing IKEA’s sustainability commitments.

Jesper said on LinkedIn at the time of the announcement: “I am proud of how we, together, have navigated unprecedented challenges across the last years, always guided by our culture and values, while transforming IKEA to an omnichannel retailer with sustainability at our core.”