Dow ‘well on track’ to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 15% by 2030 – exec

BUENOS AIRES (ICIS)–Dow is “well on track” to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 15% by 2030, compared with 2020 levels, according to an executive at the US chemicals major.

Leticia Jensen, global purchasing director for sustainability at Dow, said the producer does not have yet a target for Scope 3 emissions reduction, but reaffirmed the company’s commitment to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Scope 1 and 2 emissions are those emitted by a company’s own operations; Scope 3 emissions are those emitted by third parties, such suppliers, and are harder to track and abate.

Jensen spoke to ICIS on the sidelines of an event about logistics organised by the Latin American Petrochemical and Chemical Association (APLA).

SCOPE 3 REDUCTION
Prior to this interview, Jensen had taken part in a panel about Scope 3 emissions in petrochemicals, an area the industry has yet to achieve meaningful emissions reductions.

Jensen said Dow has embarked in a campaign to increase its data collection about Scope 3 emissions so they can be tackled properly, with many of its suppliers well engaged with it.

However, unlike other chemicals majors, Dow has fallen short to set a target for reduction for Scope 3 emissions, which represent its largest carbon footprint. The 15% reduction target by 2030 only refers to Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

While reductions in Scope 3 emissions among petrochemicals producers have so far been rare, some of them have set up targets for 2030.

Belgium’s chemicals major Solvay, which is a large producer of highly pollutant soda ash, aims to reduce them by 24% by 2030, compared with 2018 levels.

France’s Arkema has even gone further, saying it will aim to cut Scope 3 emissions by 46% by 2030, compared with 2019 levels.

NEARLY 130 MILLION IN 2021
According to figures by Jensen, Dow’s total emissions stood at around 110.9m tonnes/year in 2021. Scope 3 emissions represented 70% of them, or 77.64m tonnes, with half of these coming from the feedstocks used in the company’s operations.

The 15% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions promised for 2030 would represent around 5m tonnes/year, taking 2021 emissions figures as reference.

Jensen would not disclose what the figures in 2022 were, as they will be published around mid-June when the company releases its emissions annual report, she said.

Asked whether Dow was doing too little, too late, she said: “What we believe is that we have a target for carbon neutrality. By 2030, we want to reduce 15% of the emissions that are in our direct control, and we are well on track to achieve that. We are making solid progress, and we are undertaking large investments to decarbonise.

“[Targets for emissions reductions published by producers] are not distractions: this is a need. Data gathering is critical, but it is not only data gathering what we are doing: this data will be incorporated into our accounting, and some of our suppliers have also committed to decarbonise. In that data there is also a lot of value.”

Jensen went on to say that reducing emissions – of all types – and a good business performance are “definitely compatible” for petrochemicals companies.

In the earlier panel in which she took part, an executive from Mexico’s Braskem Idesa, partly owned by Brazil’s petrochemicals major Braskem, had said that petrochemicals producers need to get ahead of the game in terms of Scope 3 emissions reductions, or they would risk regulators coming harder on them in years to come.

Asked about that in the interview, Jensen would not comment if that scenario could be realistic but said that collaboration between governments and companies is key to achieve meaningful emissions reductions.

“[We need to take advantage of the] Benefits of government and companies jointly driving for carbon neutrality. We need to join efforts in the accounting challenges for emissions. We need a lot of expertise, from whoever we can get it, to drive emissions down,” she said.

“To measure Scope 3 emissions, and set objectives to reduced them, a lot of collaboration is needed between regulators and the private sector, between governments and companies. I see that as a positive, because we are all driving to measure them right and make carbon neutrality a reality. This is a multi-party problem to be solved.”

The APLA Logistics event ran in Buenos Aires on 6-7 June.

Interview article by Jonathan Lopez