Story | 08/26/2021 11:09:01 | 3 min Read time

New CO2 reporting tool helps us reach our target of reducing emissions by 65%

We have launched a new tool this summer for reporting our energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The tool provides a consistent, more transparent, and simple-to-use reporting system for all our businesses and production sites.

The new tool was developed in close collaboration with UPM businesses, UPM Energy, UPM Responsibility, the UPM IT department and its Data Management Office (DMO) and external IT experts. It was also tested by different UPM businesses to ensure that it works in practice.

“Having detailed data about our CO2 emissions is becoming more and more important for us as a business but also to our customers,” says Petri Hyyryläinen, Director, Energy at UPM Communication Papers. “There is more and more pressure to increase the data available for customer specific carbon footprint reporting and the same data can be utilized also for product development.”

According to Hyyryläinen, the tool helps both the business and individual sites by providing real-time data on their emissions and by offering a simple system of reporting the data to all relevant stakeholders.

“It’s a modern tool, and very easy to use. For data entry, for example, you just copy paste the data from your Excel file to the online system,” he explains. “This does not, of course, mean that we have sat here twiddling our thumbs earlier. We followed and reported our emissions consistently for many years. This tool just makes the process more transparent and coherent,” notes Hyyryläinen.

Energy consumption and CO2 emissions reported in the same tool

The tool enables all production sites to report both the energy (fuels, heat, and electricity) they consume, and tonnes of CO2 emitted monthly. To ensure that we stay on track toward our target of -65% CO2 emissions from 2015 levels by 2030, all relevant data since 2015 has been uploaded in the tool retroactively.

Jarkko Hukkanen from UPM’s Reporting and Standards Team has been involved in developing the tool since the project was kicked off around 1.5 years ago.

“Before this new tool was developed, different businesses used various systems and tools. The new tool integrates all data in one place in one unified format. From the Group point of view, this information is now more easily accessible and comparable,” Hukkanen explains.

“The new tool creates added value by speeding up the reporting process through automation. It also reduces manual work and human error,” says Jukka Laitinen, Head of Data Platform at the UPM Data Management Office.

Accurate data is the foundation of strong leadership and the foundation to make right, long-standing business decisions.

Long but necessary journey

Sami Lundgren, VP, UPM Responsibility welcomes the new tool as a useful addition to UPM’s carbon reduction toolkit.

“We really needed this tool to track the progress of our 2030 emission reduction target in sufficient scope and detail. The tool helps us with strategic planning, decision making and analysis of the measures taken at our sites. If for instance the numbers show that we are behind our annual reduction target, we can react immediately,” Lundgren explains. 

Reducing emissions is a crucial climate action.

“Without transparent and credible reporting, we cannot prove that we are operating in a sustainable manner,” Lundgren says. “We often talk about the importance of strong leadership as a driver of business success. Well, accurate data is the foundation of strong leadership and the foundation to make right, long-standing business decisions. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all who made this tool possible,” he concludes.

See more about our CO2 emission reduction targets

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