Norilsk Nickel is driving the shift towards sustainable and responsible production
Our priorities
Reduce long-term GHG emissions across the value chain, from suppliers to customers
Maintain resilience to climate change risks
Facilitate low carbon transition by supporting and scaling up innovative solutions and encouraging inter- and cross-sectoral dialogue on climate change
Our commitments
Develop and regularly update our climate change strategy
Implement management systems and risk management tools to respond to climate change and have them integrated into the risk management system in line with the TCFD recommendations
Engage with the administration of Norilsk on our shared climate change risks and opportunities and help municipalities in the Norilsk Industrial District to understand how they can mitigate the physical impact of climate change
Review commercially sensible opportunities to reduce carbon footprint
Attract and effectively allocate capital to implement our climate change strategy
Support best practices and innovations in decarbonisation
Create incentives for the management to deliver on GHG emission targets
Expand engagement and partnership with stakeholders on climate change agenda, including by:
encouraging suppliers and contractors to comply with the Company’s climate change principles and honour the Company’s commitments
teaming up with researchers and supporting R&D to better understand climate change drivers
considering potential membership in key associations that support low carbon transition
ensure regular and transparent disclosure on climate change in line with international standards and best practices, and liaise with third parties to determine the best approach to reporting on Scope 3 emissions
Our targets
Reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2) from production operations to 7.7 mln t of CO2 equivalent by 2028 with a 30%—40% increase in metal output from 2017;
Reduce the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2) from production operations by 37% to 5 t of CO2 equivalent per tonne of Ni equivalent by 2028;
Increase low-carbon energy usage;
Manage climate-related risks by building resilience strategies and helping communities in the Norilsk Industrial District and the Murmansk Region embrace energy efficient, low-carbon technologies;
Support the economy’s low-carbon transition, foster innovation, scale new solutions, and encourage climate action dialogue within and across industries.
Responsibility for climate change
The Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing climate management, including the approval of the climate change policy, strategy, and risk appetite, as well as monitoring climate risk management. In order to ensure a deeper focus on climate change, in 2021 the Board created the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Committee led by the Chairman of the Board of Directors. At the management level, climate change matters are reviewed and overseen by the Risk Management Committee of the Management Board led by the Company’s President. Information on key risks, including those related to climate change, is reviewed on a quarterly basis. Vice President for Investors and Sustainable Development is in charge of the Company’s sustainable development policy, including climate change. Dedicated units of the Head Office, branches and Group companies are responsible for certain aspects of the climate change policy and strategy within their scope.
Our next steps to achieve our targets
Nornickel’s approach to climate change
Nornickel has a long-term sustainable development strategy in place seeking to enable environmentally conscious production. The strategy involves the modernisation of production assets using best available technologies and clean tech solutions, maintaining a low carbon footprint among global diversified metals and mining players, and improving energy efficiency and long-term resilience to climate risks.
The Company currently has three key groups of climate change initiatives. The key examples include:
Physical risk mitigation initiatives
Reconstruction of the backup diesel fuel storage facilities at HPP-1, HPP-2 and HPP-3
Replacement of wooden supports at power lines with steel ones
Creation of a system for geotechnical monitoring of buildings and structures, including hydraulic structures
Energy efficiency initiatives
Upgrade (replacement) of equipment at NTEC’s power units
Reduction in power consumption required for compressed air production.
Initiatives to cut CO2 emissions
Construction of an LNG plant
Liquefaction of carbon dioxide at HPP-2
Our current results
Key climate change indicators
10.3 mt — Scope 1+2 GHG emissions (GHG protocol), one of the lowest CO2 footprint among global mining majors.
∼3.2 mp of CO2e — Scope 3 GHG emissions (GHG Protocol) as of 2021.
Norilsk Nickel’s GHG emissions, mt of CO2e
GHG emissions by source in 2020, %
* Nornickel’s GHG emissions cover electricity supply to Norilsk by NTEC, and a reserve for CO2 emissions from Sulphur Programme 2.0.
Estimated Scope 3 GHG emissions, downstream, mt
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Scope 1 & 2 (CO2e), 2021
Source: Company’s estimates, Company’s analysis, peer group include leading diversified peers BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Vale, Glencore, Anglo American. Most recent available data (2019-2021).
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Scope 3 (CO2e), 2021
Source: Company’s estimates, Company’s analysis, peer group include leading diversified peers BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Vale, Glencore, Anglo American. Most recent available data (2019-2021).
Nornickel’s CO2 Nickel Emissions (per tonne of Ni-eq.)
One of the Nickel Industry Lowest CO2 Emissions Intensity
8.1 t of CO2 — per tonne of finished product — carbon footprint of nickel produced in accordance with ISO 14040 and 14044
10 kt production of carbon-neutral nickel in 2021
Source: Wood Mackenzie.
Use of renewables and energy efficiency
53% — a 2018–2021 average share of renewables in total electricity consumption in the Norilsk Industrial District
43% — a 2018–2021 average share of renewables in the Group’s total electricity consumption
Nornickel has one of the highest shares of renewable energy and prioritises hydropower, which is generated by the Group’s Ust-Khantayskaya and Kureyskaya hydropower plants. Natural gas accounts for almost 100% of the remaining types of fuel used by the Company’s heat and power plants. We have minimised reliance on high carbon fuels across our energy assets.
The Group attaches great importance to improving the energy efficiency of the production sites under construction and in operation. As part of this program for 2021-2030, it is planned to invest more than 8 billion US dollars in the modernization and improvement of the industrial safety of the Company’s energy infrastructure. Investments include a wide range of projects related to the replacement of equipment in thermal and hydroelectric power plants, the modernization of fuel tank storage and electricity grid and gas pipeline systems
Norilsk Nickel has one of the highest shares of renewable energy
Project to assess physical climate change risks
In 2021, Nornickel launched a large-scale project to assess physical risks related to climate change. In 2021, climate change was modelled in the Norilsk Industrial District until 2050, based on three global climate scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The analysis covered three baseline scenarios: SSP5-8.5, SSP2-4.5, SSP1-2.6 (compliance with the Paris Agreement scenario).To this end, we engaged climate scientists from the Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who conducted a pilot assessment and formed a register of physical climate change risks for a number of facilities in the Norilsk Division, and drafted a methodology for quantitative risk assessment. To this end, we engaged climate scientists from the Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who conducted a pilot assessment and formed a register of physical climate change risks for a number of facilities in the Norilsk Division, and drafted a methodology for quantitative risk assessment.