The Year Ahead in Climate-Positive Shopping
Climate-Positive Shopping
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2026 is the year shopping becomes measurable climate action. Here’s what’s coming, and why shoppers will be in control.
Dear IMPT Family,
By now, it’s clear that shopping isn’t going away. Humans will buy things. The question isn’t whether to shop, but whether to shop in a way that accounts for impact. For years, that felt like a niche choice — sustainable shopping as a separate category, premium prices, limited options.
2026 is the inflection point. Carbon labels are rolling out at scale. Loyalty programs are funding verified climate projects. Supply chains are becoming transparent. And the infrastructure that links shopping to measurable climate action is moving from early-adopter status to mainstream.
This won’t happen overnight. But by the end of 2026, climate-aware shopping will be easier than not. The default shifts.
🔥 Key Highlights 🔥
1️⃣ Carbon labels go mainstream in Europe and North America
2️⃣ Climate loyalty becomes standard at major retailers
3️⃣ Transparency and supply-chain auditing accelerate
4️⃣ Resale becomes integrated into primary retail
5️⃣ Policy pushes brands toward deeper climate reporting
6️⃣ Gen Z reshapes what’s profitable to sell
1️⃣ Carbon Labels Go Mainstream
By June 2026, carbon labels will be mandatory on certain product categories across the EU (starting with food, expanding to apparel and electronics). The UK, Norway, and Switzerland are implementing similar standards. North America is following, though with less mandate and more voluntary adoption.
What this means: when you’re shopping, you’ll see a carbon number on products. Not everywhere yet, but at major retailers, carbon labels will be as standard as prices. You’ll compare on carbon the way you compare on nutrition.
Early data from Sweden and France shows that labels shift purchasing by 8–12%. Not revolutionary, but consistent. And once 50 million shoppers have seen carbon labels, the behavioural shift multiplies.
2️⃣ Climate Loyalty Becomes Standard
Five years ago, IMPT pioneered climate loyalty — rewards that fund verified carbon offsets. Today, it’s still rare at scale. But 2026 is the year that changes.
Major retailers are launching carbon-backed loyalty. Booking.com, some Nike and adidas channels, and emerging DTC brands are offering: spend with us, and a percentage of your reward funds a verified climate project. By November 2026, at least half of major e-commerce platforms in Europe will have some form of climate loyalty.
The model is proven: it doesn’t cannibalise margins (it’s cheaper than blanket discounts), it builds loyalty, and it funds real climate projects. Brands see this and move.
3️⃣ Transparency and Supply-Chain Auditing
The EU Green Claims Directive is driving demand for supply-chain transparency. Brands are being audited, factories are being verified, and data is being standardised. The friction is real, but it’s also the moat: brands that invest in transparency now will have a competitive advantage.
By mid-2026, expect 30–40% of major brands to have publicly audited supply-chain data. Not perfect, but auditable. You’ll be able to click “where was this made?” and see third-party verification.
This is the foundation for end-to-end purchase tracking — knowing your purchase’s full impact, from factory to offset.
4️⃣ Resale Becomes Integrated into Primary Retail
Major brands are launching resale arms. Vestiaire, Grailed, and proprietary platforms are growing fast. By 2026, resale will be a 10%+ channel for many apparel and accessories brands.
What changes: resale will be integrated into primary shopping. You’ll buy from a brand, wear it, and sell it back through the same platform. Seamless. Incentivised (loyalty points for both buying and selling secondhand). The brand gets repeat engagement; the shopper gets financial benefit; the planet gets lower impact.
This is where IMPT can innovate: rewarding secondhand purchases with the same carbon credits as new, since the upstream impact is near-zero.
5️⃣ Policy Pushes Toward Climate Reporting
SEC rules in the US, CSRD in the EU, and equivalent regimes globally are pushing companies to report Scope 3 emissions (supply chain and product use). By 2026, these aren’t optional reports — they’re audited, public, and tied to exec compensation at major firms.
What this means for shopping: more data will be public. You’ll know which brands are actually reducing emissions and which are greenwashing. Brands that can’t show real reductions will face capital costs (higher borrowing rates, investor pressure).
Policy + market pressure = acceleration.
6️⃣ Gen Z Reshapes What’s Profitable
Gen Z now has spending power — roughly €300+ billion annually in Europe and North America. And they’re voting with their wallets. Brands that don’t offer sustainable options lose Gen Z shoppers to competitors who do.
Fast fashion is facing pressure from resale (why buy new when secondhand is cheaper and lower-impact?). Electronics retail is shifting as “right-to-repair” laws (EU, California) make refurbished and repaired devices viable.
By 2026, Gen Z’s purchasing power will have shifted the majority of major retailers to offer sustainable lines and resale options. Not because of moral awakening, but because profit.
Looking Ahead — Shopping as Climate Infrastructure
2026 is the year shopping infrastructure stops being neutral and becomes climate-aware by default. Every purchase tracked, every carbon footprint visible, every reward tied to climate projects.
This isn’t utopia. It’s not solving climate change (policy and industrial decarbonization still do most of the work). But it shifts the largest consumer system on Earth toward measurable impact.
IMPT is at the centre of this shift — linking shopping, loyalty, climate tracking, and verified offsets into a seamless, scalable infrastructure.
The next 12 months will see carbon labels normalise, loyalty programs pivot toward climate, and shopping behaviour change as a result. Not because people suddenly care more, but because the systems now make sustainable choices easier, not harder.
And when the system incentivises the right choice, the right choice wins.
Let’s keep building — together. 🌍💚
