2022 Sappi Southern Africa
Corporate Citizenship Report

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Climate Action

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coal used for majority of South Africa’s power requirements

The challenge

In South Africa, coal is still used to generate the majority of the country’s power requirements, making the move to renewable energy challenging.

committed to mitigating impacts of climate change

The opportunity

As a South African company headquartered in Johannesburg, we are committed to playing a key role in adapting to and mitigating the impacts of climate change wherever we operate, particularly in our country of origin. Doing so will enhance our competitive advantage and reputation.

   

The stakeholders

All South Africans and South African organisations and businesses, including Sappi.

need to shift to a zero-carbon economy

The roadmap

We recognise the need to shift to a zero-carbon economy. The validation of our science-based targets by the Science Based Targets initiative – described under ‘Our actions’ on the opposite page – has given us a clear roadmap for doing so. These targets are aimed at catalysing climate action, accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy and building a thriving world.

reduce emission 41.5% per ton of product by 2030

Our actions

We recognise the need to shift to a zero-carbon economy. The validation of our science-based targets by the Science Based Targets initiative – described under ‘Our actions’ on the opposite page – has given us a clear roadmap for doing so. These targets are aimed at catalysing climate action, accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy and building a thriving world.

  • We have established global 2030 decarbonisation targets. The first is to reduce carbon emissions by 41.5% per ton of product by 2030. Our second target is to ensure that 44% of our suppliers (by spend) have science-based targets by 2026. Each region’s decarbonisation plan is based on a combination of capital investments in assets, process efficiency improvements and increased purchases of renewable energy. These targets have been validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative, which means that our stakeholders can rest assured that we are fully committed to doing our fair share to decarbonise our value chain.
  • We are advantaged in that the trees in our plantations absorb and store significant amounts of carbon. We harvest what we grow and replant so that carbon stocks remain stable. The total standing carbon stock in live biomass in our plantations is 38.25 million tCO2e – as confirmed by an external carbon accounting company.
  • Recognising that what isn’t measured can’t be managed, we’re collaborating with the World Resources Institute to compile a greenhouse gas inventory for companies to track their land-related emissions and removals.
  • As we experience the impacts of a changing climate on our woodfibre sources, so we are intensifying our focus on climate research. Our world-leading tree improvement programmes which focus, among other things, on mitigating the impacts of climate change, are a core pillar of our competitive advantage. Further details can be found in our group Sustainability Report, available at www.sappi.com/sustainability.

About our tree improvement programmes

Research and development of genetically improved planting stock has been conducted at Sappi’s Shaw Research Centre in Howick since 1985, almost 40 years. Tree improvement is aimed at increasing pulp yield produced per hectare by testing various species and hybrids across Sappi’s diverse landholdings. Besides growth improvements, trees are bred for superior wood properties and resistance to biotic and abiotic threats including frost, drought, pests and diseases.

Performance against our Thrive25 target aligned with SDG13:

Climate Action

Thrive25 target 2019 base 2022 target 2022 performance Assessment of performance
Decrease specific greenhouse gas (Scope 1 and 2) emissions by 20% 1,708.5 kgCO2e/adt 1,494.3 kgCO2e/adt 1,765.5 kgCO2e/adt
Decrease specific purchased fossil energy by 21% 17.3 GJ/adt 14.9 GJ/adt 17.6 GJ/adt