Tetra Pak says the pledge is significant as it sees businesses tackle climate change in parallel with political leaders.
The Paris Pledge for Action (L’Appel de Paris) is a way for non-state actors to welcome the Paris Agreement on climate change, and commit to implement it. By joining, businesses and trade unions promise to ensure the ambition of the Paris Agreement is met or exceeded, to limit global temperature rise to less than 2°c.
Irene Gedeon, communications director, sales management and sustainability at Tetra Pak, said signing the Paris Pledge reinforces the company’s commitment to tackling climate change.
“We are already taking action to reduce carbon emissions and have long been working on managing climate impact across our entire value chain,” she told this publication.
“The significance of the Paris announcement is the joining hands of businesses, organizations and others to tackle the issues of climate change in parallel with political leaders.
“By pledging our support we commit to taking action towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting global temperature rise to below 2°c.”
COP21
Nearly 200 countries took part in the COP21 climate change summit. The Paris Agreement’s key points include keeping the global temperature increase ‘well below’ 2°c, and to try and limit it to 1.5°c. Climate finance for developing countries was also included in the deal.
Capping climate impact at 2010 levels
In 2011 Tetra Pak set a series of targets on sustainability, which it pledges to follow in the context of a growing business.
“We have made good progress towards our long-term environmental objectives,” said Gedeon. “This includes our ambitious goal to cap our climate impact by 2020 at 2010 levels, even though we expect to have grown our business considerably over that period.
“For example, in 2014, we reduced emissions across the value chain by 16% compared to the 2010 baseline, despite a 14% rise in production over this period. This means that across our value chain more than a million tonnes of CO2 emissions were avoided only in 2014 if compared to business-as-usual.”
Sustainability has to extend beyond Tetra Pak itself and across its suppliers, added Gedeon.
“We recognize that a sustainable approach is an essential part of business today. Our customers expect it of us, just as we expect it of our suppliers. That’s why our 2020 climate goal is a strategic objective for the Tetra Pak Group and it covers our entire value chain, from the production of base materials to the recycling of used cartons.”