The Weir Group PLC (Weir), a global mining technology leader, confirms that the new, more ambitious emissions reduction targets we announced in July 2022 have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The targets cover greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Weir’s own operations (scope 1&2) and value chains (scope 3).

Our SBTi approved near-term science-based emissions reduction targets are to:

Reduce absolute scope 1&2 GHG emissions by 30% by 2030 from a 2019 base year.
Reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions from use of sold products by 15% within the same timeframe.

We believe that challenging ourselves to further reduce emissions from our own operations and in our wider value chain is right for the world and for our business. We have a responsibility to minimise carbon emissions to help protect the future of the planet, aligned with our purpose to enable the sustainable and efficient delivery of the natural resources essential to create a better future for the world.

We have already made good progress towards our targets, having reduced our scope 1&2 GHG emissions by a cumulative 17% since 2019. In our broader value chain, the overwhelming majority, 97%, of Weir Group’s scope 1,2 & 3 combined footprint is attributable to the use phase of our long-lifespan products and solutions on our customers’ sites. These are, in turn, our customers’ scope 1&2 emissions so we have a compelling shared goal to reduce that footprint and our latest technologies are already offering customers energy savings of up to 40%.

Our customers want access to more new technologies to solve their biggest sustainability challenges. Weir’s technology and R&D roadmap is focused on five key themes, with voice of customer at its core: Move less rock; Use less energy; Use water wisely; Create less waste; and Boost with digital. Further innovation to reduce energy consumption per tonne of ore processed will help reduce emissions from mining even further.

We believe that companies should be transparent about how they plan to mitigate and be resilient in the face of climate change. Aligned with Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, we have developed our first climate transition plan to provide full transparency on how we plan to deliver against our climate targets. This will be included in our 2022 Annual Report, to be published in late March 2023.