SBTN Pilot: Holcim
Company:
Holcim
Holcim is one of 17 companies that submitted science-based targets for nature – for both freshwater and land – as part of a pilot which took place from May 2023 to June 2024. This case study is part of a series about the findings from those validation pilot companies.
>>View the full pilot summary report
“At Holcim, nature matters. That’s why we are working to ensure our nature targets are backed by science. As a first-mover company that participated in SBTN’s pilot program, Holcim is now equipped with a gold standard approach to comprehensively assess our biggest impacts on nature, measure those impacts accurately, and set targets to address key drivers of nature loss across our direct operations and suppliers.
– Nollaig Forrest, Chief Sustainability Officer, Holcim
Context and motivation
Holcim is a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions. Holcim was motivated to take action on nature to manage its impacts and dependencies on nature. Also in response to investors’ increasing interest in nature.
Holcim has set validated SBTi climate targets for scopes 1, 2, and 3, so engaging with SBTN was a natural next step for them. They are also keen to establish themselves as a pioneer in their sector through piloting robust science-based targets for nature.
Actions taken
Holcim focused on sites that fell within its three most significant business segments: aggregates, cement and ready mix. As an extractive business, most of its impacts are in its direct operations.
Holcim used the SBTN Materiality Screening Tool to identify its potential nature impacts, and the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) to identify priority extraction sites in high biodiversity areas. It used the WRI Aqueduct tool to help prioritize water risk areas. Holcim received support from external consultants Biodiversify, who helped them prioritize areas for target-setting. For Holcim, this involved balancing the prioritization of the most degraded areas with areas that are in excellent condition but could soon be under threat. Biodiversify also assisted in choosing biodiversity indexes for the state of nature, as there were many to choose from, each with varying advantages. For the landscape engagement target, Holcim selected two areas for targets, one in Spain and another in Canada. These sites were selected because they had material impacts on nature, and because Holcim already had multi-stakeholder initiatives at these sites.
Findings
Through the SBTN pilot process, Holcim identified gaps in its value chain data, which it is now addressing by collecting geo-location data from suppliers. In contrast, Holcim already had granular water data for its direct operations, which has enabled it to start setting ambitious targets in its direct operations. Holcim worked on identifying freshwater quantity targets for direct operations and upstream activities, although the upstream targets were modeled using country-level data given data gaps.
Holcim worked on identifying land targets, but they consider the no conversion target (target 1) to not currently be feasible for an extraction business, while land footprint (target 2) is not required for extraction businesses in the SBTN methods. They submitted two landscape engagement targets (target 3), but these are only validated by SBTN when no conversion targets are set.
Challenges
As an extractive business, Holcim found the freshwater quality targets’ focus on nitrogen and phosphorus pollution was less relevant for them, and are awaiting the addition of other pollutants such as metals and total suspended solids to the freshwater methods. They also thought the land conversion target was not realistic for an extractive company, as land conversion is often an essential part of mining activities. Holcim would value sector-specific guidance given these sector-specific challenges.
When sourcing upstream data, Holcim found that many suppliers had not collected data on, for example, water use. Where this data had been collected, some suppliers considered it confidential and were unwilling to share it. Holcim also found there to be a lack of available open-source datasets such as local hydrological models. Where local hydrological models are absent, Holcim does not consider it realistic for companies to build hydrological models from scratch, given expertise and time constraints. SBTN is currently developing a water basin threshold tool, which should assist companies in identifying appropriate hydrological models. Holcim would also have appreciated more guidance on how companies can make claims (now available, and informed by the pilot), especially given the localized focus of many targets.
Benefits of process and next steps
Holcim sees their participation in SBTN participation as a source of pride and credibility for the company, establishing them as a leader in their sector.
The SBTN methods enabled them to prioritize their sites and to pinpoint data gaps in both direct and upstream operations. Further, the pilot provided the opportunity to both learn alongside, and from, many companies across different sectors, which they considered an enriching experience.
Overall, Holcim felt that SBTN raised their ambition. While the SBTN targets are aligned with their existing freshwater targets, the SBTN process will expand the scope of these to upstream operations. They found the SBTN methodology more rigorous than previous approaches used for direct operations, as externally set requirements are bound to be.
Participation in the SBTN pilot has also encouraged Holcim to start an extensive supplier traceability initiative, which they hope will improve the granularity of their future target-setting.
Advice for other companies
- Start gathering upstream data early, as engagement with suppliers and other stakeholders takes time. This is particularly salient for mining companies, who often have many suppliers, with a high prevalence of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), who may not have the capacity to collect the required data.
- Start the analysis with direct operations first, as this data is normally in better condition and can be a better point from which to learn about the methodology.
- Consultants can help validate data and methods to ensure submissions are well prepared. Because the data requirements are significant, Holcim found this a very helpful form of external support. External expertise is particularly helpful to supplement in-house expertise.
Information for this case study has been provided by the company and supplemented with content from the WWF (2024) report “Integrating Companies Within Planetary Boundaries: Feedback from the first companies to set Science Based Targets for Nature (SBTN)”.
>> View the full pilot summary report
>> Learn more about setting science-based targets for nature
