Climate Protection

We have a strong history of leadership in reducing greenhouse gases in the aluminum industry.

Carbon dioxide represents most of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with our smelters and refineries being the largest emitters. In 2020, we implemented our new long-term goal to align our GHG (direct + indirect) emissions reduction targets with the below 2º C decarbonization path defined in the Paris Climate Accord. We are committed to reducing our GHG emission intensity by 30 percent by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030 from a 2015 baseline. We achieved a 14.6 percent reduction from the baseline through 2020.

Our total 2020 carbon dioxide equivalent (CO_2e) emissions equaled 23.9 million metric tons, of which 18.5 million metric tons were direct emissions. This represents a 1.6 percent decrease in total emissions and a 12.9 percent decline in intensity compared to 2019. The decreases were primarily driven by the curtailment of the Intalco smelter, completion of the Bécancour smelter restart and operational improvements within our global smelting and refining operations.

In 2020, we published our Climate Change Policy to further our commitment to understanding and managing climate- and carbon-related risks and opportunities within our operations.