Sept. 3, 2008 - Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy says his supermarket empire wants to "create a mass movement in green consumption" by making it easier and more affordable for customers to buy green products.

Speaking in Bejing on August 22, Leahy said that consumers want to go green and it's the challenge of the retailers to help.

"If consumers are able to purchase lower-carbon products and services, they will reward the businesses that produce these products. This will encourage competition between businesses [and] stimulate research and development to bring forward even better products," he explained.

Leahy described three key parts to Tesco's green strategy:

Greening the company's operations. Contributing to greening the supply chain. Empowering customers to make greener purchasing decisions.

It's the third piece of this strategy that Leahy feels is the most important part to making a significant contribution to reversing the affects of global warming.

"Consumers account directly and indirectly for 60% of carbon emissions. Get the consumer on side and the task of tackling climate change becomes possible," said Leahy.

Tesco is taking steps to do just that. The company has reportedly saved 2 billion plastic bags after incentivizing the use of reusable bags. It has also pledged to roll out carbon labels for each of the 70,000 products carried in stores.

"The choice is not "green or grow," said Leahy. "That is a false choice. You can do both - and you must do both. Reducing emissions does not merely fight climate change, it also cuts costs."

For an edited version of Leahy's speech at the Coca-Cola Retail Research Council Global Forum, click here."