ESG Glossary

A measure of a group, individual or a company’s total greenhouse gas emissions.  A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) that are generated by our actions. The average annual carbon footprint for a person in the United States is 16 tons.
 

Carbon neutrality refers to achieving net zero carbon dioxide emissions by balancing carbon dioxide emissions with removal (often through carbon offsetting) or simply eliminating carbon dioxide emissions altogether. It is used in the context of carbon dioxide-releasing processes associated with transportation, energy production, agriculture, and industrial processes.

Carbon pricing is an instrument that captures the external costs of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions — the costs of emissions that the public pays for, such as damage to crops, healthcare costs from heat waves and droughts, and loss of property from flooding and sea level rise — and ties them to their sources through a price, usually in the form of a price on the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted.

Cement replacement has a high impact for the Sika Sustainability Strategy as it helps to reduce CO₂ emissions and improves the sustainability profile of the Sika dry mix OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement).

50% reduction of CO₂ emissions of operational footprint in cement production thanks to the introduction of SCM in dry mix mortars in France and China.

The company is already able to reduce the CO2 emitted by the operations footprint by 50% by replacing ordinary Portland cement by SCM (supplementary cementitious materials). Such an alternative materials can be for example, fly ash, calcium carbonate, ground granulated blast furnace slag, a by product of pig giron making.

The focus of the circular economy approach relates to direct circular handling of material and energy flows—for example closing loops, extending product lifecycles and increasing usage intensity.

The business case for adopting circularity principles is becoming more and more compelling due to higher awareness and shifting demand towards more sustainable solutions among customers in construction and transportation markets. Sika’s initiatives to impact the development towards a circular economy in its industry, range from the alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 11, 12, and 13 in particular, to the partnering with downstream clients, universities and startups to co-design and implement products.

Collaboration projects are  essential because the deployment of deep circularity interventions relies on access to cost-effective sustainable energy and renewable/recyclable feedstock with appropriate specifications.

• Scope 1: Direct emissions from owned or controlled sources (fuel combustion, company vehicles) --> action: e.g. gas consumption reduction in Sika plant
  
• Scope 2: Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy (purchased electricity, heat and steam) --> action: e.g. renewable electricity consumption in Sika plant
  
• Scope 3: All other indirect emissions that occur in the value chain (purchased goods, transportation & distribution, waste disposal, business travel/ employee commuting, processing and use of sold products etc.) --> action: e.g. cement reduction (replacement with SCM) in mortars formulations; energy savings thanks to cool roofs
  

• Globally recognised standard, since 2013 Sika’s system to manage and report all nsustainability topics.
• The data/ information is collected from local Sika companies via Operational Reporting and on Group level.

The “Sika Cares” community engagement program focuses on improving the quality of life of children, adults and families in the communities in which the company is active. There are three focus areas: Education and vocational training, buildings and infrastructure, climate and environment. The company endeavours to provide intelligent support for projects through the application of company-specific expertise, voluntary work by its employees, and long-term collaboration with partners.

TCFD (Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures): Evaluating climate-related risks and opportunities related to its business and developing appropriate response measures are of vital importance to ensure a sustainable development and the business continuity of Sika. As a framework to disclose the impacts of climate change on Sika’s business and to increase the understanding of the related risks and opportunities, the Group has endorsed the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

Sika has started a process for identifying and assessing the potential implications of plausible future scenarios. Those scenarios allow Sika to explore and develop an understanding of how various combinations of climate-related risks, both transition and physical risks, may affect its businesses, strategies, and financial performance over time.  

As sustainability is a core element of Sika’s growth strategy and procurement plays a key role guaranteeing to select and cooperate with vendors according to the highest ESG standards. In alignment with this strategy, and with a strong focus on sustainable supply and cost & efficiency improvement, Sika ensures responsible sourcing and compliance with sustainability and quality standards within Sika procurement and supply chains.

Sika participates at the ‘Together for Sustainability’ (TfS) initiative as an active member. The organisation, founded in 2011, aims to improve sustainability practice within the supply chain of the chemicals industry. The TfS program is based on the UN Global Compact and Responsible Care® principles and allows Sika to assess and evaluate the performance of its suppliers in various aspects. This includes environmental, labour & human rights, ethical and sustainable procurement performance.

The participation at the TfS initiative enables Sika to learn and exchange with its members best practices in sustainable procurement principles, and to actively participate in the improvement of sustainability practices within the chemical industry supply chains.  

Sika is making a contribution to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, focusing on eight of the 17 goals.

Among others, both the construction and the automotive industry highly influence these goals:

• 3 (Good health and well-being)
  
• 4 (Quality education and lifelong learning)
  
• 6 (Clean water and sanitation)
  
• 8 (Decent work and economic growth)
  
• 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure)
  
• 11 (Sustainable cities and communities)
  
• 12 (Responsible consumption and production)
  
• 13 (Climate Action)

• WBCSD: World Business Council for Sustainable Development
  
• CEO-led organisation of industry leaders aiming to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world. Sika is member since 2010.
  
• Active participation in chemical sector industry group (Sustainability Portfolio Management (SPM) project).
  
• Sika works with WBCSD to test Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) framework