Aluminium Industry backs new greenhouse gas initiative

The International Aluminium Institute (IAI) has launched a new initiative that commits to transparently and publicly track ambition and progress in greenhouse gas reduction of all its member companies.  This initiative, which is being launched at the United Nations’ Climate Change Conference (COP 28) in Dubai, has already been backed by major aluminium producers as the sector continues to act on reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.

Signatories include Aluminerie Alouette, Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), Alcoa Corporation, Alumina Limited, Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBA), Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), Hindalco Industries Limited, Norsk Hydro, Mitsubishi Corporation, Rio Tinto Aluminium, Rusal, Sohar Aluminium and South32.

This latest initiative aims to foster ambition across the sector and transparently track progress. It complements a range of continual activities and programmes by the IAI to ensure the industry can contribute to achieving global climate targets.

At COP28, Hindalco won the Energy Transition Change Maker award for their pioneering renewable energy initiative in aluminium decarbonisation. This ground-breaking project marks the world’s first renewable hybrid endeavour supported by pumped hydro storage in the aluminium sector.

Earlier this year, it built on that by announcing Aluminium Forward 2030, a coalition of IAI’s 25 production members and 20 downstream and customer companies who are joining forces to transform the aluminium sector. The aim is to accelerate progress towards the global net zero target through close collaboration while ensuring that actions also consider all the other UN Sustainable Development Goals.

In March 2021 the IAI published a report, Aluminium Sector Greenhouse Gas Pathways to 2050, which set out three technology pathways to emission reductions, in line with the Paris Agreement goals. At COP26 IAI published an additional decarbonisation scenario for the aluminium sector in line with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.