Greenhouse gas emissions declined 5 percent between 2008 and 2009 for furniture giant Ikea, but the company's overall carbon footprint is nearly 13 percent larger today than it was in 2006.

Absolute emissions for its buildings, goods transport and business travel steadily grew between 2006 and 2008 before dipping last year, the company said in its 2009 Sustainability Report (PDF) released Tuesday. When measured against the volume of products sold, emissions fell 5 percent between 2008 and 2009, and by 10 percent since 2006.

To address and reduce its carbon footprint, the company has devised four project areas to help broaden its efforts. First, it will look for "climate positive" opportunities to reduce emissions outside its conventional scope by examining emissions from every aspect of its value chain, ranging from raw material extraction to product use. The company also aims to promote more sustainable lifestyles for consumers, shrink the environmental impact of its food offerings, and improve recycling of its products once they are no longer wanted or needed.

Its facilities represent about half of its direct emissions, closely followed by goods transport; business travel accounts for roughly 3 percent.

As with many consumer products companies, Ikea's massive supply chain is responsible for a large swath of its total emissions. The company has set a goal of helping its largest suppliers cut energy use by 30 percent by 2011. To help devise best practices and guidelines to reduce energy use, the company has partnered with WWF to conduct a joint pilot program with 10 suppliers in Poland, Sweden and China aimed at improving energy efficiency of their operations and boosting renewable energy use.

Early results suggest participating suppliers in Sweden could reduce energy use by as much as 40 percent. Its suppliers in China could trim energy use by between 10 percent and 46 percent.

The company reduced emissions related to the transport of its goods steadily since 2007; between 2008 and 2009, transport emissions dropped 10.5 percent.

By the end of fiscal 2011, Ikea plans to install solar panels on 30-40 stores, compared to nine today.

Image CC licensed by Flickr user Per Ola Wiberg ~ Powi.