Bottom line: Profit and sustainability
The core of Hydro’s strategy is “Lifting profitability, driving sustainability” – and our 2021 performance shows it is possible to do both.
Hydro enjoyed record financial results in 2021, including an internal improvement program target that was exceeded by 25%. Yet our environmental performance demonstrates that we can combine financial excellence with progress on the sustainability front.
Here are just a few of our environmental achievements in 2021:
- Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions decreased compared to our climate strategy’s baseline.
- Biodiversity targets in rehabilitating land were met at our bauxite mining site in Paragominas, Brazil.
- 335,000 tonnes of post-consumer aluminium scrap were recycled last year.
In our bauxite tailings management at the Paragominas mine, we implemented the Tailings Dry Backfill methodology, developed in 2020. This allowed us to return the tailings to mined areas as part of our land rehabilitation, and eliminated the need to build new tailings storage facilities.
Supporting 2050 goals
This performance is important to meeting our sustainability ambitions, launched in December 2021, to guide our efforts toward the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Hydro wants to contribute to creating a fair society and circular economy by producing responsibly, delivering circular solutions, making net-zero aluminium by 2050 or earlier, and producing and using more renewable energy.
Net-Zero Hydro
We are on track to reduce our own emissions by 10% by 2025 and by 30% by 2030 from a 2018 baseline.
We are committed to net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier.
Net-Zero Products
We are developing zero-carbon greener aluminium to meet market expectations and enable customers to reduce their carbon footprint.
Our main pathways to achieving our goals are more recycling of post-consumer scrap aluminium and technological advances in primary aluminium production, such as chloride production and carbon capture and storage.
We expect to be able to produce our first near-zero volumes of aluminium around 2022.
Net-Zero Society
We are reducing greenhouse gas emissions in society at large by delivering climate-friendly solutions. We are increasing renewable energy production, exploring energy storage and solutions, working to develop green hydrogen to replace fossil fuels, and we will continue to grow in low-carbon and recycled aluminium.
We will start reporting on Scope 3 emissions for 2021 and we will work on setting longer-term Scope 3 targets by the end of 2022.
(Greenhouse Gas Protocol: Scope 1 covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating, and cooling consumed. Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions that occur in the value chain.)
“Our performance shows that profitability and sustainability can go hand in hand,” says Hydro President & CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim. “This is essential to meeting our goals for the climate, environment and society today, and toward 2050.”
Go deeper with Our sustainability ambitions and the Annual Report 2021.