Carbon dioxide

We believe that the key to combatting climate change involves the use of renewable materials, resource and energy efficient production processes, and sustainable forest management practices.

Progress

With its science-based targets, Stora Enso commits to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from operations by 31% per tonne of pulp, paper, and board produced by 2030, compared to a 2010 baseline. At the end of 2020, our performance was -26%.

To reduce emissions in our value chain, we also commit to ensuring 70% of our non-fibre suppliers and downstream transportation suppliers in terms of spend set their own GHG reduction targets by 2025, and adopt science-based GHG reduction targets by 2030. In addition, our target was to educate 100% of our customer-facing staff on the advantages of setting science-based targets by 2020. By the end of 2020, 90% of our employees in the scope had completed the training, which will continue in 2021.

At our Beihai Mill in Guangxi, China, coal is currently the only feasible energy source for an industrial project of its scale in the region, as there are inadequate sustainable supply chains for non-fossil fuels at present. We continue to investigate long-term options to gradually move away from coal to biomass and other non-fossil fuels. The power boiler at Beihai Mill is technically able to use a variety of fuel mixes. In 2020, modest amounts of wastewater sludge, forest residuals and other side streams from our production processes were used in the boiler.

Stora Enso's operations primarily utilise renewable biomass-based fuels, so the share of carbon neutral CO₂ emissions in our total CO₂ emissions is high (82% in 2020).

In 2020, direct emissions from our operations accounted for 25% of our carbon footprint, while 4% resulted from purchased electricity and heat and 71% were generated elsewhere along the value chain.

In February 2021, Stora Enso was top-ranked in greenhouse gas management by the Transition Pathway Initiative for the fourth time in a row. The Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI ), an asset owner-led initiative, evaluates and tracks the quality of companies’ management of greenhouse gas emissions and of risks and opportunities related to the low-carbon transition. It also evaluates how companies’ future carbon performance would compare to the international targets and national pledges made as part of the Paris Agreement. In its assessment of how 23 paper producers globally are preparing for the transition to a low-carbon economy, TPI top-ranked Stora Enso in both management quality and carbon performance.  

How we work

The most effective ways to reduce our direct fossil CO₂ emissions are to further improve our energy efficiency, and to continue to increase our use of biomass fuels. For over a decade, we have been actively reducing the energy intensity of our operations – and in many places also our dependency on fossil fuels.

Stora Enso evaluates risk and opportunities related to global warming through the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) process, which forms an integral part of our management approach. We also routinely calculate the financial impacts of potential cost increases in relation to emission allowances and energy prices. For more information on Stora Enso’s reporting according to TCFD recommendations within the categories of governance, strategy, risk management and metrics, see Financials 2020.

Stora Enso is a member of the We Mean Business coalition, the Prince of Wales's Corporate Leaders Group (CLG) and the Climate Leadership Coalition.

Our policies

• Policy for Energy and Carbon
• Environmental guidelines
• Supplier Code of Conduct.

Opportunities and challenges

The use of renewable materials enables us to contribute towards a low-carbon economy. Our products help our customers and society at large to reduce CO^₂ emissions by providing low-carbon alternatives to solutions based on fossil fuels and other non-renewable materials.