Indirect CO2 emissions achilles heel of large Swiss firms

Large companies: lower direct CO2 emissions, but indirect emissions are rising Keystone-SDA

Leading Swiss companies have not made much progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, according to news agency Awp.

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This is the result of Awp analysis of sustainability data, which examined the available environmental balance sheets published by the 20 companies included in the SMI, the main index of the Swiss stock exchange.

In aggregate terms, direct CO2 emissions (Scope 1 and 2), i.e. those related to production processes, heating, company transport and energy production, decreased by around 3% year-on-year. A figure that might seem positive, but according to analysts does not represent a real change of pace.

The picture changes dramatically with so-called Scope 3 emissions, i.e. those along the entire upstream and downstream value chain. This item, which usually makes up the largest part of a company’s carbon footprint, increased by almost 6%.

The lead in operational emissions remains firmly with cement giant Holcim, with 55 million tonnes of CO2, far more than the other groups. It is followed by building materials manufacturer Amrize (16 million) and food giant Nestlé (3 million). In terms of indirect emissions (Scope 3), the record belongs to the technology group ABB, with 425 million tonnes, ahead of Nestlé (75 million) and Holcim (37 million).

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Going into detail, Holcim reduced direct emissions by 2%, but saw Scope 3 rise by 6% due to emissions related to participations and acquisitions. Amrize (a spin-off of Holcim’s US operations) cut its direct emissions by 4%; it does not yet provide full Scope 3 data, but promises an in-depth analysis later this year.

Nestlé did better than most by reducing both direct (-6%) and indirect (-3%) emissions through renewable energy and regenerative agriculture. ABB decreased its operational emissions (-3%), but recorded a sharp increase in Scope 3 emissions (+8%), explained by a strong order book and a different composition of products sold.

Some companies reduced both types of emissions: this was the case for Givaudan, Novartis, Roche, Swiss Life and Swisscom. Other groups improved only direct emissions and worsened indirect emissions: this is the case of Geberit, Lonza, Sika, UBS and Zurich.

Swiss Re did the opposite, increasing operational emissions but reducing those of the supply chain. Finally, Kühne+Nagel stands out as the only company in the SMI index to see falls on both fronts. The logistics group attributes the increase in its environmental impact to better data quality and an increase in air freight traffic.

Financed emissions of banks and insurance companies (i.e. greenhouse gas emissions attributed to financial institutions for their lending, investment and financing activities) were not included in the study.

Adapted from Italian by AI/mga

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