Environment

Environment
Waste to Resources Biodiversity Action for Climate Change Energy Management Water Management Air Quality Management

Action for Climate Change

CLC Important milestones on climate governance

CLC: First Taiwan Papermaker Rated Top at TCFD Verification

To support the call for climate-related financial disclosures by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) created by the Financial Stability Board, besides signing up to the TCFD and applying to the British Standards Institution (BSI) for third-party verification of our compliance with the disclosures, we have engaged in active management of climate change issues and taken countermeasures, enabling us to become Taiwan's first papermaker to be rated top at the TCFD verification. Through voluntary disclosure to stakeholders of our adaptability to climate risks, we made advanced achievement in the Corporate Governance 3.0 advocated by the Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) in order to contribute to strengthening Taiwan's international competitiveness in sustainable development.

The physical risks brought by climate change are deteriorating and increasingly frequent, and investment and insurance institutions also enhance the climate-related credit ratings and sustainable investment strategies accordingly. In addition, based on net zero vision, advanced European countries and the USA also actively plan climate-related laws and carbon tariff systems, causing the ripple effect on the industrial chain of different countries in the world. By implementing the TCFD management framework, CLC has accelerated the response to and deployment of low-carbon development and adaptation strategies. In the future, we will constantly update and assess TCFD in response to the global climate change trends and changes in policies and regulations in order to enhance the sustainable development of operations.

Climate change management

Based on the core elements of TCFDs, CLC introduces the management framework and review the orientation and progress to climate change quarterly.

Core Element Management Strategies and Actions
Governance Set up the ESG Committee to integrate climate action resources and progress across departments. Furthermore, the Office of Climate Change and Circular Economy was established under the Committee, with the President as its convener, to actively manage and take action on climate change issues. The
chairman reports to the BoD quarterly.
The BoD and the management team are responsible for approving climate-related strategies, goals and specific actions.
Strategy Continue to implement climate change mitigation and adaptation projects.
Promote smart production and sales and green energy circulation, and transform the company into a
low-carbon and green energy paper company.
Risk Management Engage in inter-departmental collaboration to identify climate-related risks and opportunities.
Quantify financial impacts, devise countermeasures.
Incorporate into corporate risk management and ISO management processes.
Metrics and Targets The ESG Committee sets climate-related performance indicators and quantitative targets, regularly
tracks the achievement rates, and discloses the information to the public.
Establish the medium-and long-term targets of taking action toward reducing carbon emissions by
30% by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, respectively.

Management of climate risks and opportunities

We have established the TCFD Working Team under the ESG Committee and identified key risks and opportunities related to climate change based on the business locations in Taiwan. We have also identified the financial impacts brought by the following two scenarios: Well-below 2℃ (W2DS: According to the Paris Agreement, global temperature rise should be controlled well below 2℃ by the end of this century) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and established measurement and management targets based on the identification results. With respect to the levels of potential and financial impacts, we have accessed the risk value of short-, medium-, and long-term exposures and identified 6 material transition risks, 1 physical risk, and 6 climate-related opportunities and calculate the level of short-term (1–3 years) financial impact on the company and established plans to enhance the management of climate change risks.

Risk
Transition risks

GHG control and carbon tax, carbon price

Renewable energy development

Energy efficiency and energy transformation

Tightened and total quantity control of air pollution and quality

Resource recovery based on the circular economy and tightened recovered paper
supervision

Low-carbon technology transformation
Physical risk

Rainfall
Opportunities
Resource use
efficiency

Enhancement of wastewater treatment efficiency
Energy
source

Participation in international renewable energy initiatives and green electricity trading

Investment in low-carbon technology and equipment, promote green, low-carbon production
Product and
serve

Passing green label certification for products to increase green business opportunities
Market

Entry to the emerging markets

Deployment of the circular economy and green operations

Climate change strategy

Engaging in green production over time, every year we review the overall effectiveness of our carbon reduction efforts through the third-party verification of our GHG inventory results in order to become a new low-carbon and green-energy paper company. In addition, we also connect with international initiatives to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

While direct (Scope 1) GHG emissions and energy indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions are CLC's major sources of GHG emissions, we make continual improvement in process energy conservation and carbon reduction and have implemented smart management. During 2013-2022, a total of NT$494.85 million was invested in 436 energy conservation projects to substantially reduced carbon by 68,994 tCO2e. We are the only company in the industry to have obtained a renewable energy certificate for wind power. 

Furthermore, we are actively pursuing four scientific pathways to reduce carbon emissions: improving energy efficiency, developing renewable energy, deepening the
use of circular low-carbon fuels, and innovating the application of carbon-negative technologies. Additionally, we have cooperated with NCHU and 11 corporations to establish the first "Circular Economy Research Institute" in Asia. We are actively involved in the recycling and reuse of agricultural and forestry residual materials, and we are committed to creating a 3R PLUS total resource circulation blueprint to implement carbon reduction.

Financial Impact Analysis

Greenhouse Gas Management

In the face of the challenge of global climate change and in order to support the national long-term goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, CLC Tayuan Mill took the lead to participate in the preliminary project of the Industrial Development Bureau in 2004 and implement the ISO 14064-1 GHG management system in 2005 and successfully obtained the world's first ISO 14064-1 GHG inventory certificate. Since 2006, CLC has built the GHG inventory system for entire company based on the successful experience at the Tayuan Mill, by setting GHG emission management policies and targets for each mill/plant, CLC effectively suppress GHG emissions. In 2008 we further signed up to the "Voluntary Carbon Reduction Standard" program of the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) and became the first in Taiwan to pass carbon credit validation to accumulate capacity for the domestic carbon trade market.


Our company is actively engaged in carbon reduction actions and successfully registered to Environmental Protection Administration (EPA)'s GHG offset program in 2020 (79,000 MT CO2e). We make advance deployment of the Sustainable Development Roadmap for listed companies announced by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) and capture the organizational carbon management. In 2022 we activated GHG inventory in locations at home and abroad. In 2021 Cheng Loong Binh Duong Paper Co., Ltd. in Vietnam passed the third-party verification for its GHG emission, and its Scopes 1 and 2 emissions were 260,113.3693 tCO2e and 18,398.5317 tCO2e respectively, or 278,511.9009 tCO2e in total. We also completed the preliminary Scopes 1 and 2 inventory for 2022, and the third-party assurance will be obtained in 2023.





Value product carbon management, 6 household paper products obtained the Carbon Footprint Label, unique in the industry

Over 90% of CLC products using the recycled raw materials, including the recovered paper / paper containers and scrap, and for the rest 10% using the pulp. In addition, a couple of products were awarded Low-carbon Products by EPA. Leading the paper industry, 6 household paper products acquiring "Carbon Footprint label", with 100% of growth and sales reaching 107 million packages.

Environmental Management and Environmental Protection Expenditure

Follow the trend of regulations at home and abroad, we explicitly concluded the expenditure and investment in environmental protection and implemented the environmental accounting system in 2001 to optimize the management of environmental cost efficiency.

Actions to reduce noncompliance with environmental protection in 2022:

  1. Request the CEMS vendor to promptly verify the accuracy of the software database settings and make adjustments accordingly.
  2. Implement new reminder and alert mechanisms. When abnormalities or non-compliance with regulatory requirements occur in the system, the system will proactively notify relevant personnel and provide regular training to mitigate the risk of recurrence.

Environmental Management Verification

We have implemented and applied for certification of international management systems at all mills/plants, including the ISO 14001 environmental management system, ISO 14064-1 GHG inventory, and ISO 50001 energy management system. Overseas factories in China and Vietnam have also introduced the ISO 14001 environmental management system. In order to be in line with the "Sustainable Development Roadmap for Listed Companies" to be released by the Financial Regulatory Commission in advance, and to manage the carbon emissions of overseas companies, the CLC's mill in Vietnam received the ISO 50001 & ISO 14064-1 certification.

Environmental Fines

In 2022, there were no significant records of fines, but there were a total of three cases of missing environmental regulations both domestically and internationally. This includes 3 cases of air pollution (including 2 cases in mainland China). Measures have been taken to address these deficiencies and prevent recurrence. In the future, our company will continue to actively promote education, SOP implementation, and investment to carefully ensure the management and enhance corporate governance.