Towards better climate performance through concrete actions and 2030 climate targets
UPM's climate targets for 2030 include reducing the fossil carbon dioxide emissions from own combustion and purchased electricity by 30% as well as reducing acidifying flue gases by 20%. One of UPM's continuous targets is to maximise the business benefits of greenhouse gas claims, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“We are determined to work towards these targets in many ways,” says UPM's Sami Lundgren, Vice President, Environment and Responsibility. “When we look at the big picture, our most important input on climate work is our Biofore strategy, which aims to replace fossil fuels and raw materials with renewables, maintain forest carbon sinks, promote biodiversity and continuously improve the resource efficiency of production,” Sami Lundgren continues. “Through sustainable forestry, we ensure that our most important raw material, wood, grows in forests that are sustainably managed and function as carbon sinks. We also strive to promote biodiverse ecosystems that are less vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.”
“In our production, we aim to maximise resource efficiency, for example by using best available techniques (BAT) and constantly increasing the share of renewable and low-emission energy. Our products are renewable and recyclable, and we are continuously innovating to create new materials and products to replace non-renewable ones. Our products themselves are also carbon sinks,” Sami Lundgren summarises.
High-quality reporting as verifier
UPM presents its responsibility data in its Interactive Analyst tool available on the company website. The tool includes an Energy and climate section, which shows data on the company's fossil carbon dioxide emissions and their development over the past ten years. The tool can be used to perform comparisons and create reports based on the key figures provided on the website. The figures are based on a huge amount of data that has been processed by competent teams at both group and business level.
UN Global Compact makes UPM BioVerno an example case In 2015, the UN published new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the year 2030. When UPM set its targets for 2030, it used these SDGs to complement the guidelines provided by the company strategy and materiality analysis. One of the SDGs concerns climate action (SDG 13). In summer 2016, UN Global Compact chose UPM BioVerno as an example case of an innovation that will contribute to reaching the climate goals defined at the Paris climate conference. UPM BioVerno is a wood-based renewable diesel made of crude tall oil, a residue of UPM’s own pulp production. Compared to traditional oil-based diesel fuels, BioVerno reduces carbon dioxide emissions by up to 80% during its lifecycle. The high level of quality and higher cetane number offered by UPM BioVerno increase engine efficiency, provide cleaner combustion in the engine and thus help to achieve considerably lower exhaust gas emissions.
Reaching sustainable development goals requires both strategic solutions and everyday actions. UPM's Biofore strategy promotes both aspects in many different ways.
Read more
UPM press release 25th October 2016: UPM receives acknowledgement for its climate actions
CDP Report 2016: Out of the starting blocks, Tracking progress on corporate climate action
