PPG has announced that it has committed to setting near-term company-wide emission reductions in line with climate science through the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi), which is an organisation that helps companies define their decarbonisation strategy and reduce the impacts of climate change.
PPG has an existing goal to reduce GHG emissions intensity by 15% by 2025 from a 2017 baseline, achieving a 9.7% reduction in 2021. The company has long reported emissions intensity from its own operations (Scope 1 emissions) and purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling (Scope 2 emissions) and plans to unveil its new 2030 goals over the coming months. Moving forward, PPG is prioritising evaluating indirect emissions that are from sources outside of the organisation that PPG does not own or control, including raw materials, use of sold products, and product end-of-life (Scope 3 emissions).
“In this critical moment for climate change, we are committed to further evaluating and reducing emissions throughout our value chain,” said Diane Kappas, PPG vice president, Global Sustainability. “We are working across our organisation to define additional actions we can take to help prevent the earth from warming more than 1.5 degrees celsius. Following our validation work with SBTi and an emissions analysis, we intend to announce new, aggressive 2030 goals that will define our decarbonisation strategy to help protect the planet for current and future generations.”
PPG also released its 2021 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, which details advancements in its sustainable innovations, board governance of ESG, efforts to reach its 2025 sustainability goals and further actions to support customers’ sustainability goals.
“Sustainability is at the heart of our purpose to protect and beautify the world,” said Kappas. “Our employees’ hard work and dedication helped us meet and surpass several of our near-term 2025 goals, and we continue to look for additional ways to reduce our emissions and overall environmental impact. While we are proud of our achievements, we recognise that now is the time for further action. We look forward to unveiling science-based targets as we complete the validation process.”