Polluters building to green goal
Pledges ahead of climate summit
MAJOR Australian greenhouse gas polluters have pledged to hit net zero emissions by 2050, with the nation’s cement and concrete industry and a major aluminium producer taking action to meet green goals ahead of the looming Glasgow climate summit.
Australia’s largest building materials players including Boral, AdBri, Cement Australia and Hanson plan to deliver net zero carbon cement and concrete to Australian society by 2050 while the owners of the huge Portland aluminium smelter in Victoria have joined metal producers in meeting the same green goal.
And billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group has doubled down on its bet it can make hydrogen a key export commodity, staking ambitous plans to decarbonise its iron ore operations on the technology.
It wants to cut its Scope 3 emissions – those attributable to customers for its products – to net zero by 2040.
The targets underscore a sweeping move by Australian businesses to curb greenhouse gas emissions with the cement and metals industries both under pressure to lighten their environmental load given they are major emitters of carbon dioxide.
“Overcoming the challenges presented by climate change and adaptation are essential to the sustainability of our industry,” said Ken Slattery, chief executive of Cement, Concrete & Aggregates Australia, which includes Boral and major building materials operators as members.
“This statement represents a call to action to governments, regulators, procurers, researchers, designers, builders and customers to work with the industry to achieve this important goal.”
Cement is seen as a major contributor to climate change, accounting for around 8 per cent of global CO2 emissions, according to a British report.
Alcoa, a major owner of the Portland smelter in Victoria, also aims to be carbon neutral by 2050 while reducing both direct and indirect emissions from its aluminum smelting and alumina refining operations by 30 per cent by 2025 and 50 per cent by 2030 from 2015 baselines.
The looming Glasgow COP26 climate summit has sharpened a focus on both companies’ and countries’ green commitments with pressure on Scott Morrison from the UN to exit coal, commit to a net-zero target by 2050 and outline shorterterm goals to decarbonise the nation’s economy.
Boral announced a month ago it would shift to renewable energy sources and explore carbon capture and storage technologies on its path to slash its carbon emissions this decade and achieve net zero by 2050. The building products supplier is targeting a 46 per cent cut in scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, as well as a 22 per cent decline in scope 3 emissions.