Chemical Industries Failing to Meet Paris Agreement Goals

In spite of making progress on climate risks, the chemical industry is still failing to accomplish the goals outlined by the Paris Agreement, says a new report by CDP.

Catalyst for Change analyses 22 of the biggest global chemical companies with a aggregate market capitalization of $650 billion and culpable for a quarter of all emissions of the sector at 276 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year, including AkzoNobel, DuPont, BASF and The Dow Chemical Company. The report reveals rapid process innovations will be required in order for chemical companies to have any chance of aligning with the below 2-degree goal set out by the Paris agreement.

The chemical sector is responsible for an eighth of global industrial CO2 emissions and plays a key role in the world economy, with 95 percent of all manufactured products relying on chemicals. Despite the industry’s ability to innovate on low carbon, it will struggle to fully decarbonize if it doesn’t make rapid and significant changes to its own highly polluting processes.

“As both a large energy user itself and a crucial part of other industrial supply chains, the chemicals industry is an important, but often overlooked, sector when it comes to environmental impact. Today’s analysis shows it’s moving in the right direction across several climate metrics with encouraging signs on annual emissions and R&D, but it needs to go further and faster to invest in the technologies that will deliver efficiency and emissions improvements,” said Paul Simpson, CEO of CDP.