The new year saw some key net zero pledges from big business, including some ambitious announcements from energy intensive industries. Here’s your January roundup.
Aluminium giant pledges net zero by 2050
EN+ Group, one of the largest aluminium producers in the world, has announced its plans to become net zero by 2050 and to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 35% by 2030.
The targets cover absolute emissions across all operations, including aluminium production plus heat and electricity production. The Group believes that the targets announced today represent the most ambitious carbon reduction targets yet seen in the global aluminium industry.
Identified by the United Nations as one of the seven “hard-to-abate” sectors, the aluminium industry alone is responsible for more than 2% of global carbon emissions. In 1990, the industry produced 350 million tonnes of CO2; today it is responsible for 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 of direct and indirect emissions along the entire product chain. This is equivalent to all of the emissions produced by Japan in a year, or equal to 400 million cars each driving 20,000 kilometres.
Ibstock accelerates net zero journey with switch to 100% renewable electricity
Ibstock plc has become the first building products manufacturer in the UK to procure 100% of its electricity from renewable sources.
The milestone takes the company closer to meeting its target of a 15% reduction in CO2 per tonne of production by 2025, as well as accelerating its net zero carbon journey.
Total Gas & Power, Ibstock’s energy supplier, says its Pure Green energy tariff enables Ibstock to report zero emissions for electricity under the GHG Protocol Corporate Standards, Scope 2 as the electricity can be matched to Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificates. Pure Green guarantees that the REGOs will only come from solar, wind or hydro sources. The generation mix of Total’s Pure Green power is typically hydro/wave power (0.31%); solar (24.69%); and wind (75%).
BBC pledges net zero by 2030
The BBC has pledged to achieve net zero GHG emissions by 2030. Its director-general Tim Davie announced the target in a new year speech to staff.
Davie said in a webcast: “For many reasons we have not set a net zero target before and I think we needed to. So this is now a commitment and we’re going to go after it.”
Further details are expected later in the year.
PepsiCo doubles down on climate goal and pledges net zero emissions by 2040
PepsiCo has announced plans to more than double its science-based climate goal, targeting a reduction of absolute GHG emissions across its value chain by more than 40% by 2030. In addition, the company has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.
Specifically, PepsiCo plans to reduce absolute GHG emissions across its direct operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 75% and its indirect value chain (Scope 3) by 40% by 2030 (2015 baseline). This action is expected to result in the reduction of more than 26 million metric tons of GHG emissions or the equivalent of taking more than five million cars off the road for a full year.
TSB sets out pathway to net zero by 2030
UK bank TSB has unveiled its plans to hit net zero carbon emissions by 2030. The bank says it will deliver a net zero carbon pathway that meets international standards, can be independently validated, and only offsets carbon as the last resort.
In 2019 TSB baselined its own carbon emissions and built a comprehensive understanding of the sources of those emissions. This informed the decision to buy all the bank’s electricity from renewable sources, but also allowed the development of a wider net zero carbon plan. This year, the bank has set out a pathway to further reduce the carbon emissions from its own operations (Scope 1 and 2 emissions), baseline wider impacts (scope 3) and do more to help its customers reduce their environmental impact, working with its suppliers to accelerate progress.
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