We have already been helping our customers by designing our products and solutions to improve their energy and resource efficiency. 53% of our revenue in 2019 came from these types of solutions, up from 51% in 2018. Our chemistry expertise helps customers in reducing their raw materials consumption, improving production yield, reducing waste generation, extending customer asset-life, improving energy efficiency and lowering greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), as well as boosting their water efficiency.
Kemira’s action for the climate is also visible in our products and solutions. Our biggest sustainability impact comes from helping our customers improve end-use resource efficiency – and over half of our revenue already comes from sales of these products.
Jari Rosendal, President and CEO
We want to extend our focus also to our own footprint – because we are part of our customers’ value chains and our emissions become embedded in their products. Greenhouse gasses (often expressed in CO2 equivalents) are emitted from a company’s activities in 3 main categories.
- Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions of all GHGs from owned or controlled sources, e.g. burning natural gas on-site.
- Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy e.g. the fossil fuel-based energy that goes into the electricity bought from the grid.
- Scope 3 emissions are indirect emissions in the up and downstream supply chain. These are emissions embedded in the products and services bought by the company, e.g. logistics or raw materials.
Kemira has now set a target of 30% reduction in combined Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by 2030, from the 2018 baseline of 0.93 MTCO2e (mega/million tons). Our long-term ambition is to be carbon neutral across the whole company by 2045 for combined Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.
Our upgraded target shows that Kemira fully supports the ambition of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement and that we recognize our contribution to the collaboration needed across sectors and stakeholders to solve climate change.
Jari Rosendal, President and CEO
Amongst pioneers in the chemical sector
It hasn’t been easy to find a pathway to carbon neutrality for energy intensive industries, but the business context is changing. We are one of the very first companies in the chemical sector to set our ambition in line with the Paris Agreement. We have done this because we can see a viable pathway for our company – our modelling shows that the rewards outweigh the risk.
This is important to our customers since our so-called Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are their Scope 3 emissions. Aligning our ambition with that of our customers and society allows us to better help each other, because we also rely on their help.
By setting this target we want to send a signal to our customers that they can and should demand more from their suppliers on sustainability. We want Kemira to be positioned for success when customers apply their commitments to climate action in their choice of supplier.
Rasmus Valanko, Director, Sustainability
We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we can build on earlier action taken, such as energy efficiency and sourcing of zero-emission electricity. The key solutions that will enable emissions reductions include: increased sourcing of zero-emission electricity, switching to renewables for our sites, electrification of processes at our sites, and continuing to improve energy efficiency. We have considered offsetting through nature-based solutions, but this is only a long-term option, and we intend to exhaust emission reduction options in our own operations first.
For scope 3 emissions, Kemira will follow the good example already set by some of our customers. We are committed to working with suppliers to decrease the carbon footprint of our purchased goods and services. To that end, we will also be encouraging suppliers to set their own ambitious GHG reduction targets aligned with the Paris Agreement. At the same time, Kemira’s R&D function is working towards developing more products from bio-based and industrial by-product raw materials, helping to further reduce scope 3 emissions.
While customer demand is a strong incentive, we are also adjusting to a new political reality in many of our markets – the societies we are part of are intent on delivering carbon neutrality and sustainability. We want to be part of that project and bring our own expertise and solutions to support the journey.
Meeting this ambition means collaboration – across value-chains, sectors and society. Our success will also be dependent on the choices of others. That is why it is so important to show that we are working towards a shared goal and that we will support our customers along this journey.
Rasmus Valanko, Director, Sustainability