Forética's Climate Change Cluster presents the keys to decarbonization for companies in Spain

The Climate Change Cluster, promoted by Forética and made up of 77 large companies - headed by Bankinter, Chiesi, Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar, ENGIE, IKEA, LafargeHolcim, Naturgy and Nestlé - identifies the six fundamental axes of climate action from a business perspective, based on the commitment to zero net emissions, Scope 3, neutralization, renewable energies and electrification, climate risk and a holistic vision of environmental challenges.
As relevant data, the document published by Forética within the framework of the Cluster highlights that 63% of the companies analyzed have established their goal of zero net emissions by 2050 or earlier and the risk linked to climate change is identified by almost 80% of the companies.
In 2021, the Climate Change Cluster has worked to understand the starting point of its member companies and to identify their degree of commitment, development and contribution to the objectives established in the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law and the Long Term Decarbonization Strategy 2050.

Forética presents the report Zero net emissions: Companies in Spain facing the challenge of decarbonization'.published within the framework of the Climate Change Clusterled by Forética and made up of 77 large companies, headed by Bankinter, Chiesi, Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar, ENGIE, IKEA, LafargeHolcim, Naturgy and Nestlé.

The document presents the six keys to the private sector's decarbonization pathway: commitment to net zero emissions, Scope 3 - indirect emissions occurring in the corporate value chain, neutralization, renewables and electrification, climate risk and a holistic view of environmental challenges.

In 2021, Forética's Climate Change Cluster has worked to understand the starting point of its member companies and to identify their degree of commitment, development and contribution to the objectives established by the two main regulatory frameworks for action for decarbonization in Spain: the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law and the Long-Term Decarbonization Strategy 2050.

Germán Granda, CEO of Forética, states: "The transformation process towards a low-carbon economy necessarily implies a systemic change to contribute to the achievement of the goal of not exceeding a 1.5º temperature increase. Following the United Nations Climate Change Summit (COP26) in Glasgow, we have witnessed very positive advances included in the agreement reached by the 200 delegations present after two weeks of intense negotiations, but further steps forward are still needed to ensure the alignment of countries' actions with the ideally 50% reduction in emissions needed by 2030. In this context, specifically from the business angle, from the Climate Change Cluster we see a clear commitment from the private sector to net zero emissions, from the establishment of a decarbonization target in line with science, to the commitment to renewables or the understanding of the link between climate change and other environmental issues, such as the circular economy or nature."

The 77 large companies that are part of the Climate Change Cluster represent 16 different sectors, involve a workforce of approximately 650,000 employees and account for a turnover of around 160 billion euros. The report presented by Forética within the framework of the Cluster analyzes the degree of maturity of these companies' climate action initiatives. As relevant data, the document highlights that 63% of the companies have established their goal of zero net emissions by 2050 or earlier, 82% of the companies measure Scope 3 at least partially and 1 in 4 plan to develop projects that contribute to the generation of additional carbon sinks in the short-medium term.

From a strategic perspective, 52% of companies have set their target to be 100% renewable by 2030, 29% of companies have a specific electrification transition target in their medium-long term plans, the risk linked to climate change is rated as very high, high or medium by almost 80% of companies and 40% of companies have integrated circular economy, biodiversity, health and resilience as a key part of their climate strategies.

Business action in the face of the climate emergency

Julia Moreno, Forética's Climate Change Cluster Manager, highlights: "We see how the companies that are part of the Cluster are at a moderately advanced level in terms of the maturity of their climate strategies, according to the internal analysis carried out by Forética. We observe the need to overcome some barriers that companies are encountering when taking a step further in their strategies, highlighting the measurement of scope 3, the quantification of the impacts of climate change or the development of projects that contribute to the generation of carbon sinks. To be part of the Cluster, participating companies must show their firm commitment to having a strategy to fight climate change for Spain -with defined objectives and present in the business processes- and report periodically on the results of performance in terms of climate change, so that there is an exercise of transparency regarding the achievement of the objectives and main indicators".

The annual meeting of the Climate Change Cluster was inaugurated by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, with the intervention of Valvanera Ulargui, General Director of the Spanish Office for Climate Change.

The international vision was provided by John Revess, Senior Director of Net Zero Transformation of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), who presented the most relevant global trends at the business level in terms of climate action, highlighting the 'Business Manifesto for Climate Recovery' published by the WBCSD in the framework of COP26. The Manifesto sets out 12 priorities for action framed around reducing, eliminating and reporting emissions and highlights the public-private collaboration needed to drive climate action. It also stresses the need for a new Corporate Determined Contributions (CDC) mechanism to measure the private sector's contribution to global climate recovery.

The business meeting - broadcast live from the sets of EFE TV and presented by the director of EFE Verde, Arturo Larena - heard high-impact experiences from leading companies in the Cluster for the transition to a low-carbon economy. These were addressed by José Antonio Barberá, Head of Sustainability at Bankinter; Giuseppe Chiericatti, General Manager of Chiesi España; Daniel Fernández, Director of Regulation and Public Affairs at ENGIE; Raúl Pérez, Director of Sustainability at LafargeHolcim; Amado Gil, Head of Climate Change at Naturgy; and Pedro Ruiz, Environmental Sustainability Specialist at Nestlé.

Likewise, Forética's Climate Change Cluster has also focused its work in 2021 on three fundamental levers that have undergone a clear evolution in the context of the fight against climate change in recent years and that are fundamental for the decarbonization of the Spanish economy in 2050: the relevance of measuring the scope 3 of the carbon footprint, the path towards zero net emissions by advancing in the concept of compensation and the need to integrate climate risks and transparency in business management, evolving from voluntary to enforceable.

In this regard, Forética has published three documents in the framework of COP26, with the aim of addressing from a practical perspective the key trends in corporate climate action: 'The importance of Scope 3. From measuring my own impact to the consideration of my value chain', 'From voluntary to enforceable. The new scenario of climate risks and reporting' and 'From compensation to neutralization on the road to net-zero'.

In addition, Forética has organized within the framework of the Summit the meeting 'How can business engage the value chain in achieving the net zero challenge?', as a side event of the European Union, with the aim of deepening the measurement of the carbon footprint in the value chain as a key to the business transformation necessary for the decarbonization of the economy in 2050.

The Climate Change Cluster, led by Forética -and headed by Bankinter, Chiesi, Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar, ENGIE, IKEA, LafargeHolcim, Naturgy and Nestlé- is made up of 77 large companies: Accenture, Adif, AENA, AIRBUS, Amazon, Alsea, AstraZeneca, Atresmedia, Bayer, CaixaBank, CAPSA FOOD, Cecabank, CEMEX, Cerealto Siro, CESCE, CIE Automotive, Cofares, Damm, Deloitte, DHL, Ebro Foods, Ecoembes, Ecovidrio, El Corte Inglés, Emasesa, Enagás, Enaire, Endesa, Enresa, EPSON, FCC, Ferrovial, Gestamp, Grupo Antolín, Grupo ASISA, EULEN Group, GSK, ILUNION, HEINEKEN, HeidelbergCement, Iberdrola, Incarlopsa, ING, ICO, Jealsa, LaLiga, Leroy Merlin, Lilly, L'Oréal, Mediaset España, Mercadona, MSD, Navantia, NTT DATA, OHLA, Pascual, P&G, Quirónsalud, Reale Seguros, Red Eléctrica, Reganosa, Sacyr, Sanitas, Solvay, Suez, Tendam, TÜV Rheinland, Vodafone and Zurich.

Read the report here Zero net emissions: Companies in Spain facing the challenge of decarbonization'.