Nov. 24, 2008 - Wal-Mart has announced that CEO Lee Scott, the driving force behind the retailer's three-year-old sustainability effort, is stepping aside in favor of Mike Duke, head of the company's international operations. Scott will leave his post effective February 1, 2009. He will continue serving as chairman of the executive committee of Wal-Mart's board.

In October 2005, Scott set out three major sustainability goals for the company: to be supplied 100% by renewable energy, to create zero waste, and to sell greener products.

Since then, Scott has acted as the very public face of Wal-Mart's sustainability push. In January, Scott expanded on his company's commitment, pledging to take action on energy efficiency, ethical sourcing, and affordable health care. As recently as last month, Scott outlined a roadmap for building a more environmentally and socially responsible supply chain in China and throughout the world.

Scott took the helm at Wal-Mart in 2000 amid stalling sales, but has engineered an impressive turnaround in recent years. One indication of Wal-Mart's successful strategic shift is its transition from "Always Low Prices" to "Save Money. Live Better" - driven in part by the retailer's commitment to developing and marketing greener products.

Such efforts appear to be paying off, with customers increasingly adopting environmentally preferable products that also save money, such as CFL lightbulbs. Thanks in part to its focus on stocking money-saving, resource-efficient products, Wal-Mart continues to post strong numbers even as most retailers gird for the coming recession.

Scott himself maintains that Wal-Mart's sustainability efforts have helped reposition the company as a market innovator. "It wasn't done as a marketing ploy," Scott said at Wal-Mart's Live Better Sustainability Summit in Arkansas last October. "It wasn't done for any other reason that this was an extraordinary business opportunity, but the outcome for our shareholders and for the environment has been clearly an improvement in Wal-Mart's perception among the influence makers in this country."

The world's largest retailer is not without its critics, of course, and Scott has been careful not to overplay the company's progress on sustainability issues. "We make no claims of being a green company. And we're not saying we're better than other companies," Scott wrote in the foreword to Wal-Mart's first-ever sustainability report, released last November. "[W]hat we are saying is we're doing sustainability in a way that's real and right for Wal-Mart and is touching the lives of millions of people around the world."

Scott's big-picture thinking and matter-of-fact approach have won support from some unlikely quarters. For example, Seventh Generation CEO Jeff Hollender - noted for his criticism of Wal-Mart's business practices - recently agreed to sell his company's green cleaning products in Wal-Mart stores, based largely on his favorable impression of Scott.

It's unclear what effect - if any - the transition from Scott to Duke might have on Wal-Mart's sustainability initiatives. Given the company's strong market position, however, it's unlikely that the changeover will result in any major shifts in direction, as Duke himself has made clear.

Wal-Mart is very well positioned in today s economy, growing market share and returns, and is more relevant to its customers than ever," Duke said in a press release Friday. "Our strategy is sound."