CCR Group goes forward in the climatic agenda

October 27, 2022 / , and / Nenhuma

The consequences of the climatic crisis are increasingly affecting organizations, with economic losses resulting from natural disasters estimated at $343 billion in 2021 worldwide. And the estimated financial impact of climatic risks for critical infrastructure in Brazil was approximately R$ 540 billion (2019).

In the Energy sector, Transport emissions represent 44% of the total, with emphasis on the use of fossil fuels, such as diesel and gasoline.

In a global context, the transition to a low carbon economy is the most urgent and relevant challenge for organizations and the main goal to be achieved is to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, as recommended by the Paris Agreement.

Climatic Governance

Aware of the challenges, the CCR Group, a relevant player in infrastructure services for human mobility, based in Brazil and with businesses in the airport sector in Latin America, entered into a partnership with WayCarbon to develop a Climatic Strategy, whose objective is to integrate the theme governance in the organization. The Company, which has already defined climatic change as a material theme for its business, has several initiatives in progress.

Among the initiatives of the CCR Group’s climatic agenda, alongside WayCarbon, is the climatic risk and opportunity management strategy, based on the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), aiming at transversal and the proposition of control measures.

Recently, the Company also organized the Workshop “Climatic Change and CCR’s Business”, aiming to present the Group’s actions to the challenges of climatic change to the Company’s leaders.

The CCR Group’s contribution to the socioeconomic development of large cities and the consequent reduction in emissions also occurs through investments made in urban mobility. The Company, which currently operates cleaner transport such as subways, trains and Light Rail/VLTs, will keep a close eye on initiatives in the clean energy field.

The CCR Group’s Decarbonization Plan has been developed since 2021, under the guidance of WayCarbon, and its goal is to contribute to the improvement of the GHG management process and consequent reduction of emissions, in addition to setting goals for the Company.

Among the advantages of designing this mitigation strategy, it is possible to mention the minimization of risk for the companies of the Group by preparing them for possible regulatory and legislation changes, the promotion of innovation and the use of new technologies, the engagement of employees in the climatic agenda and gains in competitiveness and positioning in the market. When preparing a Plan to reduce its emissions, the CCR Group recognizes the impacts of climatic change, its role and responsibility, contributing to the commitment assumed by Brazil through the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which established as a goal, the reduction 50% of absolute emissions by 2030, compared to the value emitted in 2005.

Decarbonization Plan

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) provides a solid basis for companies’ short- and long-term decarbonization strategies, publicly demonstrating their sustainability commitments to their stakeholders. In this way, setting goals based on science, foster innovation and competitiveness and ensure the business is aligned with the objectives of limiting global warming below 2ºC.

To establish a goal based on science, the CCR Group built a Decarbonization Plan that involved a complete diagnosis of emissions management, and it had the commitment of the operational and management teams of the different areas and company businesses. To support the establishment of goals, scenarios of future emissions were prepared and opportunities for emission reduction were identified, including a cost-effectiveness analysis of these actions. In addition, the project focused on emission compensation strategies and evaluated the inclusion of an internal carbon price for the company, as an instrument to promote decarbonization.

Short-term goals

The first result of the Plan was a short-term goal based on the migration of part of the fleet to the consumption of renewable fuels, replacing fossil fuels, and the reduction of scope 2 GHG emissions, in the year 2022. These actions were included in the ESG panel of the CCR 2021 Integrated Report.

Medium-term goals

In order to make it possible to develop the long-term goal, the Group’s most emissions-intensive activities were identified. For scope 1, emissions resulting from the combustion of vehicles used in the operation, conservation and maintenance of highways stood out; in scope 2, emissions from the electricity consumption of subways and, in scope 3, emissions arising from the categories of Purchased Goods and Services (Category 1) and Activities related to fuel and energy – not included in scopes 1 and 3 (Category 3).

By identifying the main sources of emission and projecting the growth of the CCR Group until 2033, using 2019 as the base year, the Business as Usual (BAU) scenario was developed. For the same period, a science-based target was established based on the criteria and recommendations of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). Subsequently, projects were surveyed talong with the areas or by benchmarking and the Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) was constructed to assess the cost-effectiveness of each initiative.

CCR Group is focused on aligning their ambitions with SBTi’s recommendations. And it committed, in July 2022, to adopting a science-based emission reduction target under the initiative’s guidelines. In this way, the Company became the first in the infrastructure sector in Brazil to submit an SBTi target. WayCarbon collaborated with the roadmap preparation indicating ways to reach the goal through the survey of decarbonization projects, most of which are covered by a main pillar in each scope.

For scope 1, the pillar refers to the transition from a fleet powered by fossil fuels to a fleet that uses less carbon intensive fuels and clean technologies. The energy pillar, in scope 2, is based on the energy transition to renewable energy sources. The last pillar involves the use of less carbon-intensive inputs in conservation, maintenance and expansion works in the modes in which the CCR Group operates, among other initiatives that impact scope 3 emissions.

The Group already has a Supplier Chain Sustainability Program in partnership with an external company, and participates in the CDP Supply Chain movement, which promotes supplier engagement in strategies to combat climatic change and other relevant environmental impacts.

Aware of the challenges with winning new concessions, such as 16 airports, two urban train lines and, once again, the Via Dutra concession (CCR Rio-SP), the Company is already dedicating a strategic look to these new operations, prioritizing initiatives and technologies raised in the Plan that result in emissions reduction. In this way, the CCR Group advances in the decarbonization of their activities, according to science-based goals and in alignment with the Paris Agreement.