Vaisala increases climate action by committing to set science-based target

Vaisala, a global leader in weather, environmental, and industrial measurements, commits to set a near-term science-based target aligned with the requirements of the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Vaisala’s commitment includes decreasing its direct Scope 1 and especially indirect Scope 3 emissions by 2030. The more detailed target and methods to achieve it will be set based on calculations in 2022, after which the target is sent for validation to SBTi in 2023.

“As the latest IPCC report states, climate change is an even more urgent global challenge than we have originally thought, and businesses also need to act. Our business is tightly intertwined with climate change. Our solutions help to study, mitigate, and adapt to climate change, but we also do everything we can to continuously decrease the carbon footprint of our own business,” Vaisala’s President and CEO Kai Öistämö comments.

Vaisala’s reported carbon footprint is divided into three scopes: Scope 1–3. Scope 1 (direct greenhouse gas emissions), which forms a relatively small share of Vaisala’s total emissions, includes the fuel consumption of field-service vehicles owned by Vaisala. Scope 2 (purchased-energy emissions) includes purchased power and heat. Scope 3 (other indirect emissions) contains business travel, inbound and outbound logistics, commuting, waste treatment, and energy consumption of weather radars. During 2022, the scope 3 calculations will be enriched with emission data on, for example, purchased goods and services, use of sold products, and end-of-life treatment of sold products, which have previously remained outside the calculation scope.

“We have already actively reduced our carbon footprint by using 100% renewable electricity in our facilities around the globe: we achieved this RE100 target in 2020, fulfilling the SBTi criteria for Scope 2 emission reduction. Now the emission reduction targets will focus especially on Scope 3, and they will be highly ambitious. We are now starting a significant project to calculate and reduce the emissions in our supply chain,” Vaisala’s Sustainability Manager Marjo Hietapuro describes.

After the baseline for Scope 3 has been calculated in 2022, Vaisala sets the target in line with the requirements of the SBTi. Similarly, the ways in which Vaisala aims to achieve the target will also become more detailed once the scope 3 baseline calculation has been finished. The target will then be evaluated and approved by SBTi, and Vaisala estimates that the final target will be published in 2023.

“Sustainability has always been one of the most integral cornerstones of Vaisala’s business, as we help our customers to reach their sustainability targets, and our own sustainability practices are also on a great level. However, we can do even more, which is why I am proud to say that we commit to the Science-Based Targets initiative. SBTi requires businesses to set targets that contribute to limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees, and that is what we call all businesses to do as well. This way, we take the required steps to build a healthier and more sustainable future for our planet,” Öistämö concludes.

What is the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi)?
The SBTi is a partnership between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). It provides companies with a clearly-defined path to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement goals – limiting global warming to well-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.

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