Perstorp has set Science Based Targets in line with Paris Agreement
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) defines and promotes best practice in science-based target setting. It also independently assesses companies’ targets.
“Perstorp has a mission to be the sustainable solutions provider,” says Jan Secher, Perstorp Group CEO. “A part of this is setting targets to reduce the impact within various areas, including carbon emissions. Perstorp wants to actively participate in the transition of the chemical industry, and we are convinced that this will also create value and new business opportunities.
We have the possibility to make a great positive impact, by driving change, transforming our production, and enabling new solutions that will help our customers provide sustainable products and offerings to the market. This is our commitment, and aligning with the Paris Agreement is a natural consequence of this.”
Perstorp is committed to reducing absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 46.2 percent by 2030 from a 2019 base year. The company is also committed to reducing Scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services, fuel and energy related activities, upstream transportation and distribution, waste generating operations, and end of life treatment of sold products 27.8 percent per ton sold product within the same timeframe. Perstorp’s target for the emissions from its value chain (Scope 3) meets the SBTi’s criteria for ambitious value chain goals, meaning they are in line with current best practices.
Reaching the science-based targets means looking at every aspect of the company to identify possible ways of reducing negative climate impact. Perstorp took an important step towards enabling greenhouse gas emission reductions last December when it began applying Internal Carbon Pricing for Scope 1, 2, and 3. Internal Carbon Pricing is a way to future-proof a company by helping to drive investments that improve sustainability and reduce CO2 emissions. It is a mechanism to put an internal price on our CO2 emissions and take this into account in business cases and as the guiding principle for decision making.
“Reaching our science-based targets will require big efforts, including reducing energy consumption at our production sites and shifting to renewable or recycled energy and raw materials sources,” says Anna Berggren, VP Sustainability at Perstorp Group. “The investments and decisions we make today will generate emissions in the long future. Therefore, the informed decisions we make need to take this risk factor into account to support our journey towards our targets in 2030 and beyond. Internal Carbon Pricing is one very concrete way to implement sustainability aspects into our financial decision-making process.”.
Greenhouse gas emissions are categorized into three groups, known as ‘Scopes,’ by the most widely-used international accounting tool, the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol. Scope 1 covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating, and cooling consumed by the reporting company. Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain.
