(20 February 2019, London). New data, launched today by the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI), examine how the world’s largest publicly listed companies involved in producing aluminium are managing climate change risks and opportunities, and how their emissions performance compares to international climate goals.
TPI is backed by asset owners and investors with over £10.3 trillion ($13.3 trillion) of assets under management. The assessment of companies’ carbon management and performance is carried out by the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, supported by data from FTSE Russell.
The findings show that:
- The 12 aluminium producers assessed are at various steps on the TPI Management Quality staircase, from acknowledging climate change as a business issue to strategic assessment. As a whole, the sector’s Management Quality is close to the average of all companies in the TPI database. However, the 12 aluminium producers perform better on average than other carbon-intensive manufacturing sectors such as cement, paper and steel.
- All the leading companies in this sector are listed in OECD countries and several are diversified with majoroperations in other commodities such as mining. By contrast, more than half of global primary aluminium production is located in China.
- Carbon Performance data for the aluminium sector are limited. This reflects a lack of emissions disclosure of, and limited target-setting for, aluminium production specifically.
- Aluminium producers’ emissions intensity varies widely, due mainly to the source of electricity used for smelting.
- Only 3 aluminium producers have an emissions intensity that is currently aligned with the Paris Agreement benchmarks: Alcoa, NorskHydro and Rio Tinto. NorskHydro’s current emissions intensity is almost as low as the Below 2C benchmark in 2030.
- Only 2 companies have a target to reduce their emissions intensity of aluminium production that extends to at least 2020: Alcoa and UC Rusal. Neither is aligned with the benchmarks.
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