Over the past decade, industrial companies have taken a leap forward in their sustainable development. We live in a unique time when the interests of business and sustainability no longer contradict each other. This has been made possible because businesses have found ways to turn environmental performance into business opportunities.
Severstal’s long-term priorities are to promote social, economic, and environmental welfare and to focus on safety and corporate governance. We aspire to maintain the highest possible production standards, from occupational safety to environmental protection and ecology. In 2021, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP); upgraded Severstal’s rating to B from D.
Global goals we all share
We already have a significant history of committing to decarbonisation and sustainability. In 2018, Severstal joined the UN Global Compact and chose the focus Sustainable Development Goals. Moreover, Severstal was one of the first companies to join Worldsteel’s ‘Step Up’ programme, which aims to reduce GHG emissions by the global steel industry through the introduction of a new methodology.
Decarbonisation starts today
Recent research shows that in 2021 the steel industry contributed up to 7% of global CO2 emissions, which demonstrates the growing importance of our decarbonisation goals. Any full-cycle vertically integrated company has plenty of potential to integrate technology to reduce emissions across all stages of its production, from the mining and extraction of raw materials to final pipe-production.
In 2020, Severstal announced a 3-year emissions reduction target covering our Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions at the company’s main asset – the Cherepovets Steel Mill. In July 2021, we confirmed a new set of additional medium-term goals to reduce the carbon intensity of CO2 emissions by 10% by 31 December 2030 according to worldsteel’s methodology.
There is also a serious plan in place to reduce the weight of discharged wastewater pollutants at Severstal by 12% and our total atmospheric emissions of pollutants by 13% by 2025. We are executing multiple targeted activities and projects within the company in order to meet our very ambitious goals. The challenging part of the job is to implement sustainable technology at every stage of the production cycle, not just in the areas where it is easier to do so.
Our approach has already proven effective, as we have reduced CO2 emissions by 250,000 tonnes in just one year and nominal atmospheric emissions from 23.4 to 22.5 kg per tonne of steel. This is an impressive achievement considering that we produced more than 11.2 million tonnes of steel last year.
It is believed that any environmentally conscious company should not only drive sustainable development in its work, but also direct its efforts towards the development of fundamentally new products for the low-carbon market. This has led us to focus on products for the low-carbon industry, including large-diameter pipes for transporting gas mixtures with high hydrogen concentrations or even pure hydrogen, since, as we all know, the development of hydrogen energy is just around the corner. Severstal has teamed up with a number of market leaders to participate in the DNV GL Design and Operation of Hydrogen Pipelines initiative, aimed at finding optimal solutions for hydrogen transportation.
Going green together
We continue to develop a portfolio of sustainable initiatives in cooperation with the largest Russian companies and MNCs across different industries largest market participants. In 2021, we developed a special Climate Memorandum which has been signed by Schneider Electric, Air Liquide, SPECTA, Peikko and SVEZA. The goal is to motivate members of our supply chain to adopt measures that will help reduce their carbon footprint.
Most steel producers are now involved in renewable energy projects. Alongside others in the industry, we are increasing our presence in the wind energy sector, aiming to support the continued development of renewable energy, which in turn provides other companies with more opportunity to reduce their environmental impact. WindarSeverstal, a JV between Severstal and Windar Renovables S.L., has manufactured around 340 towers for wind turbines with a total power generating capacity of over 1,800 MW.
A sustainable approach to manufacturing is now winning over hearts and minds around the world. This shows just how effective sustainable development efforts can be when organisations combine forces to benefit broader society.
