CPI’s parent company, Cameron France Holding SAS, committed to setting targets at London Book Fair on 13 March, meaning that the group’s 16 manufacturing sites in five European countries will be held to the standard.
SBTi is a highly respected methodology, created by the United Nations Global Compact, the Carbon Disclosure Project, the World Resources Institute, and the Worldwide Fund for Nature.
The science-based targets have strict requirements for evidence of carbon emission reduction, and give companies a clear path to reduce their emissions in line with the Paris Agreement goal, which aimed to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Since 2020, the estimated likelihood of breaching the 1.5°C goal has jumped from 20% within five years, to 50% in 2022, to 66% in 2023, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.
Lisa Faratro, CPI’s director of environment and sustainability across Europe, told Printweek that CPI had decided to cement existing work on energy and waste reduction with strong carbon reduction goals.
She said: “Now that we have a greater understanding, we feel that our next logical step is for a public commitment to SBTi. Our commitment is across all of our sites as it is extremely important that we have shared targets and embed these across our whole business.
“A number of our suppliers and publishers have already committed to SBTi, by joining them and working together we will be able to achieve everyone’s shared goal to reduce our impact on the world around us whilst still producing beautiful books.”
In 2023, CPI began work to evaluate its 2019 baseline for carbon emissions. With all of its sites ISO 14001 or EMAS certified, CPI has also been working with consultancy ClimateCalc to measure emissions across Scopes 1, 2, and 3 – emissions generated from production, internal processes, and from the supply chain, respectively – and understand the efficacy of its policy of buying renewably-sourced energy where possible.
Over the next two years, CPI will now work through the SBTi process to set carbon reduction goals for 2030, before reaching net zero in 2050.
“Due to the current climate crisis, CPI has chosen to submit to the earlier (mid-term) target of 2030, as not only is it important to demonstrate the steps we have already taken as a group, but also set ourselves an early target to demonstrate we are prioritising sustainable production within our business.
“Our most recent action, which we announced at London Book Fair, was a change in our transportation from a traditional diesel to an electric [articulated lorry]: this will save over 75 tonnes of carbon each year.”
