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Climate

Carbon Footprint

We know this decade is critical

Why We Care

The world continues to experience the environmental and social implications of a changing climate and increasingly understands its potential to disrupt global supply chains, hamper economies, displace people and exacerbate conflict.1,2

We know this decade is critical and that our response must be substantial if we hope to avert the worst implications of climate change. That understanding is fundamental to Kimberly-Clark’s goal to shrink our carbon footprint across all our brands, while simultaneously fulfilling our mission to make lives better.

Doing Our Part in the Fight Against Climate Change 

We aspire to help avert the worst impacts of climate change, both within our own operations and across our value chain. Our customers, consumers, and investors expect Kimberly-Clark to respond with strong, specific plans and actions. That's why we committed to aggressive, science-based GHG emissions reduction targets that are aligned with the Paris Climate Agreement and have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Meeting these goals will contribute to holding global temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. 

Over the last several years we have executed on our aggressive energy and climate goals and continue to increase our ambition. In 2020, after achieving our 2022 GHG reduction goal early, we announced our current 2030 SBTi-approved goals, to reduce the carbon footprint of our products and brands by reducing our direct and indirect (Scope 1 + 2) emissions by 50% and value chain emissions (Scope 3) for purchased goods & services and end of life treatment of sold product by 20% versus a 2015 base year.

1 - Swiss Re Institute research on the Economics of Climate Change

2 - NOAA report on climate change impacts

Goals and Progress

 

Reduce Our Direct Emissions

Reduce Our Indirect Emissions

Four Areas of Focus

Our successful reductions have been driven by the adoption of leading energy efficiency and resource conservation practices, expansion in the use of alternative energy to power our facilities, and engagement with internal and external stakeholders to reduce emissions throughout our value chain.

Driving Greater Energy Efficiency Throughout Our Operations 

Kimberly-Clark uses a lean energy strategy to drive a culture of energy conservation at our manufacturing sites. An energy management system is embedded into each facility’s daily accountability process, positioning energy efficiency as a priority at the same level as safety, quality, delivery, and cost.  

Enacting Innovative Conservation Efforts

Our carbon footprint strategy also involves significant investment in renewable energy generation. We look for suitable conditions for installing solar at our facilities, make large-scale power purchase agreements of clean electricity to further reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and leverage evolving decarbonization technologies to get the most out of the fossil fuels we still employ.
Many of our manufacturing facilities employ cogeneration units that burn natural gas to generate electricity and reuse the waste heat to produce steam for use in the manufacturing process. 

As part of our 2030 SBTi commitment, Kimberly-Clark will continue to pursue working with strategic partners to develop and install thermal decarbonization technologies to power our high-thermal-load facilities around the world. 

Embracing Renewable Energy Technologies

We want to continuously improve sustainability and cost efficiency of our products, so we identify and operationalize capital projects that deliver manufacturing cost savings through improved energy efficiency and reduced consumption. We aim to uncover new opportunities for innovation through energy assessments, workshops, best practices analyses, and benchmarking, in parallel with our lean energy initiatives. 

 

Driving Emissions Reductions Across Our Full Value Chain 

Our GHG reduction goals extend beyond our in-house operations to include indirect value chain (Scope 3) emissions from our suppliers and customers. We’re aiming to reduce Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods, services and end-of-life treatment of sold products by 20% by 2030 compared to our 2015 baseline. Our teams collaborate closely on initiatives to reduce our plastic and fiber footprints and ensure that all business decisions take into consideration their life cycle carbon impacts. The Scope 3 emissions implications of actions taken in these areas are significant, so it’s critical that we have a strong understanding of co-benefits or trade-offs that may exist.

Learn More About Our climate Strategy

1https://www.swissre.com/institute/research/topics-and-risk-dialogues/climate-and-natural-catastrophe-risk/expertise-publication-economics-of-climate-change.htm
2https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/climate/climate-change-impacts

Forest Footprint

Shrinking Our Forest Footprint

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Plastics Footprint

We strive to deliver essentials while minimizing waste.

Learn More