Carbon-Neutral Future

TOWARD ZERO GHG EMISSIONS

The Paris Agreement’s long-term target is to control and reduce global warming, recognising that this would substantially reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. This should be done by reducing emissions as soon as possible in order to “achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases” in the second half of the 21st century. Under the Paris Agreement, each country must determine their own actions to stop the climate change.

The long-term target for Sweden is zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 at the latest, which means that the emissions of greenhouse gases from activities in Sweden shall be at least 85 percent lower in 2045 compared to 1990. The Swedish government has set ambitious goals for sustainability, including going fossil-free by 2045 and 100 percent renewable energy.

Norway has also set a similar target of reaching carbon-neutrality by 2050. The country already generates more than 95 percent of electricity from hydropower plants, meaning that there is a limited scope for further emission cuts in the power sector. The focus is more on electric vehicles or supplying electricity from the national grid to offshore oil and gas platforms to reduce their use of gas turbines. The share of wind and solar power in total energy production will increase.

In Finland, the governments’ plan is to ensure that Finland is carbon-neutral by 2035 and carbon-negative soon after that, by accelerating emissions reduction measures and strengthening carbon sinks. Each country has its own detailed road map to reach CO2 targets.

COUNTRY-SPECIFIC EVALUATION IS NECESSARY

These changes presume significant changes in energy taxation, regulations and a financial tendency for green technology, but it is more than obvious that GHG emission reduction steps involve every business, production and nation.

At Forcit we want to live up to our strategic target of being an industry leader in sustainability and are, thus, having ambitious targets to reduce our environmental footprint and supporting the European strive toward carbon-neutrality. Different country-specific basis may lead to different technologies and principles in our operations, but the overall ambition is the same. We have set the target on ourselves to be carbon neutral in our own operations by 2035.

There will be different challenges due to the energetic materials we are dealing with and we must evaluate risks and legislation before we change anything in raw materials, processes, or waste handling. Safety can never be compromised.

CARBON-NEUTRALITY AND FOCUS SECTORS

Our sustainability work going forward will focus on the following six areas: energy and water consumption, waste reduction, transportation options, production development and R&D, innovation and co-operation with suppliers. Some actions regarding travelling, paper usage, batteries, packaging materials will be outlined as well. Compensation possibilities and their reliability will be considered if needed but are not the priority. Most of the actions we will carry out will directly benefit our customers to achieve their targets as well. Overall co-operation and long-term business relationships are for example helping every party to minimise transportation emissions.

Our ambition is to reach carbon neutrality in our production in 2035, and it is obvious that the overall direction is toward zero in total GHG effects. This we see as our responsibility and

contribution to the global strive to stop climate change.

FOCUS SECTORS

ENERGY & WATER CONSUMPTION Energy source and intensity

WASTE Reduction of production waste

TRANSPORTATION Distance, fuel & electrification

PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT Reduce use of plastic, PVC, fuels

INNOVATION Digitalisation, new technologies, smarter solutions

CO-OPERATION Driving our suppliers to develop and focus on CO2 reduction in their own production

FORCIT Group

>> forcitgroup.com

Published: 29.4.2021