Inter IKEA Group names new Chief Sustainability Officer

Inter IKEA Group, the owner and global franchisor of the IKEA concept, has named Lena Julle as its new Chief Sustainability Officer, replacing Pär Stenmark.

Julle took her new post on May 1, 2025, after eight months as acting CSO. She has also been Sustainability Manager at IKEA of Sweden (which designs and develops all IKEA products) since 2021.

She has over 30 years of experience at IKEA, and has been instrumental in advancing its climate and circularity agenda. As Chief Sustainability Officer of Inter IKEA Group, she is responsible for sustainability across product design, marketing and communications, supply and distribution, as well as retail operations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

All other retail markets are covered by franchisees, the largest of which is Ingka Group, with Karen Pflug as CSO.

“The IKEA goal – to be more affordable, accessible, and sustainable, especially for those with limited budgets – resonates deeply with me since I began my journey at IKEA. Creating smart, well-designed, functional products for everyday use at home, based on our life-at-home expertise, while making steady progress on our sustainability agenda, presents a tremendous opportunity. 

“I look forward to continuing to work closely with my passionate IKEA colleagues to inspire and enable our customers to live healthier and more sustainable lifestyles. Together, we will enable the IKEA transition towards a circular business, accelerate our climate agenda and do our part in supporting a more fair and equal society,” Julle said.

Inter IKEA Group sustainability goals

As a group, IKEA has a science-based target to achieve net zero across its value chain by 2050, and to cut Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by half by 2030, from a 2016 base year.

These cover the sourcing and extraction of raw materials, food ingredients, manufacturing, product transport, retail operations, customer travel to stores, product use in customers’ homes and product end-of-life.   

They are aligned with Ingka Group’s climate targets – though the two have been submitted separately to the SBTi and are managed by different teams.

“With her leadership and deep knowledge of IKEA, Lena has continued our journey to make IKEA more sustainable in everything we do. As Acting Chief Sustainability Officer, she’s already made strong contributions in our journey towards net zero and further developed the overall IKEA sustainability agenda. I look forward to working together with her to make our commitments a reality,” says Jon Abrahamsson Ring, CEO, Inter IKEA Group.

Julle succeeds Pär Stenmark, who had been CSO since 2022 and “will be taking his next step within the Inter IKEA Group”, according to a company statement – though no further details have been provided.