Environmental Leader

Competitors of Wal-Mart Canada, including Loblaws, Home Depot, Staples and Best Buy, are playing nice for sustainability, having accepted an invitation to Wal-Mart Canada’s Feb. 10 Green Business Summit in Vancouver, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The move echoes Wal-Mart’s decision to engage Kroger in U.S. discussions about its sustainability index. At the time, the retailer also invited Target and Costco to related meetings.

Wal-Mart’s meeting in Canada – coming symbolically just a day before the Olympics kick off – should bring together about 300 leaders from the government, NGOs and business to discuss energy efficiency, waste management and the like.

Wal-Mart business partners on the participant list reads like a who’s-who of Fortune 500 firms. Among the firms are 3M, Cadbury, Coca-Cola, Kellogg Canada, Kraft, L’OREAL, McDonald’s, PepsiCo, SC Johnson, Sony, Unilever, according to a press release.

“For the good of the planet we must share sustainable business practices across all business sectors. We have a huge opportunity to drive environmental collaboration,” said David Cheesewright, President & CEO of Walmart Canada.

Competitor Canadian Tire said it viewed its participation in the summit as a platform to discuss its “leadership position” in sustainability.

For a full list of companies participating, click here.

Here’s a video about the summit.

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