Sustainability / Published December 2, 2020

ARAUCO becomes the first forestry company in the world to certify carbon neutrality


This year the subsidiary has achieved the important goal of being carbon neutral certified. This means that carbon dioxide captured by the company exceeds its global emissions, which, in addition to being a major contribution and concrete step to address the climate crisis, positions ARAUCO as the first forestry company to achieve this important milestone. “Today we are making a climate commitment to Chile and the world, a long-term work with clear and significant objectives that mark our vision for the future,” said Charles Kimber, ARAUCO’s corporate manager for People and Sustainability.

The achievement of this goal is based on two complementary paths: operational efficiencies that have allowed to curb greenhouse gas emissions and, at the same time, increasing CO2 captures through native forests, plantations and the carbon that is retained in forest products.

Regarding the methodology used for certification, PwC was responsible for auditing the calculation of CO2 capture from forests and carbon sequestration in forest products. Subsequently, Deloitte developed a neutrality protocol, which was applied to verify ARAUCO’s global operation based on the year 2018. In this context, the subsidiary reached neutrality generating a net surplus of 2,599,753 tons CO2e.

Along the same lines, and to continue making progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the subsidiary will seek to generate more clean and renewable energy, replacing fossil fuels that have a high carbon footprint; encouraging its suppliers to reduce their own carbon footprint, and continue to increase the reuse of by-products from industrial processes, among others.

Charles Kimber added that “it fills us with pride to be able to announce that, after a long work that we have been doing for decades, today we can have concrete results in line with the requirements that the world needs.”