Essity’s new targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emission have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative. With this, Essity’s sustainability targets are now aligned with the Paris agreement objectives to keep global temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius

The Science Based Targets initiative is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), World Resources Institute (WRI), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and is one of the We Mean Business Coalition commitments. The initiative champions science-based targets, setting as a powerful way of boosting companies’ competitive advantage in the transition to the low-carbon economy.

“Essity’s goal to reduce emissions through the whole value chain has now been approved by leading, independent organizations and it clarifies our contribution to the Paris agreement. To reach our targets, collaboration and innovating resource efficient products and solutions is essential,” says president and CEO Magnus Groth.

The commitment includes absolute targets for energy, electricity, transports, raw materials, suppliers and waste. For energy use within the company and purchased electricity (scope 1 and 2), Essity commits to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2030 from a 2016 base-year. Essity commits to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from purchased key raw materials, transport, waste generated in operations and end-of-life treatment of sold products (scope 3), by 18% by 2030 from a 2016 base-year.

“Congratulations to Essity for their newly approved science-based target, setting them onto a future-proofed Paris-compliant pathway. It’s especially encouraging to see the target covers emissions from Essity’s supply chain and treatment of their products at the end of their life, as well as direct operations. It’s clear this is the future of business and Essity is getting ahead of the curve by setting this kind of ambitious target”, says Alexander Farsan, Global Lead for science-based targets at WWF.