Nickel Asia sets net zero targets

MANILA, Philippines —  Mining firm Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) is strengthening its commitment toward sustainability as it submitted its emissions reduction targets to the global Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).

In a statement, NAC said it became the first company in the country possessing mining assets to submit its targets to the global organization.

“For 2030, NAC has committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 42 percent and achieve SBTi’s bold Net Zero Target by 2050 by heavily investing in new technologies and prioritizing the use of market-available hybrid models in all its mining operations,” NAC said

SBTi is a global body that promotes best practices in emissions reduction grounded on accepted climate science. It enables listed companies to set ambitious emissions reduction targets and keeps track of these targets to ensure companies deliver on their commitments based on the pledged timelines.

“SBTi’s acceptance of our commitment letter signifies the ‘crossing the Rubicon’ for NAC,” said NAC chief sustainability and risk officer Jose Bayani Baylon.

He said NAC is now part of the SBTI website where the company’s net zero commitments will be traced and tracked and validated according to worldwide scientific standards.

“It’s a first in the Philippine mining industry which is largely considered hard to abate and we are presenting ourselves to scrutiny and high-level peer pressure, it’s a huge undertaking and we are proud and fully committed,” he said.

To stay in the frontline of this campaign, NAC continues to transition to low carbon and renewable energy resources in both operations and campsites.

In 2016, NAC spent P1.7 billion to set up a conveyor belt system in one of its operations, significantly reducing its fossil fuel usage by 96 percent per wet-metric-ton in its Taganito mine site in Claver, Surigao del Norte.

In addition, NAC acquired two units of the hybrid excavators for piloting last year that cost P12.34 million each.