Accelerating GHG Emissions Reduction
After nearly two decades of consistent reductions in GHG emissions, we accelerated our commitments in 2021 to bring more urgency to this critical task.
Scopes 1 & 2
In 2003, Whirlpool Corporation was the first appliance manufacturer to set an emissions reduction target, and we continue to raise the bar through additional actions and commitments. In 2020, we announced that we achieved our lowest levels of absolute plant emissions (Scopes 1 & 2) in over a decade. This progress was made possible through investments in energy retrofits, onsite renewable energy and driven by the dedicated people and processes of our World Class Manufacturing (WCM) Environmental and Energy pillars. It is through these actions that we were able to announce our most aggressive target yet: Net Zero emissions in our plants and operations by 2030. This commitment covers all of our manufacturing sites and large distribution centers around the world, spanning all direct (Scope 1) and power-related (Scope 2) emissions. We achieved a GHGs emissions reduction of 27% in Scopes 1 & 2 from 2016 to 2021 in our operations, and we plan to achieve greater reductions in emissions by continuing our strong focus on environmental and energy management, and continued focus on WCM methodologies.
We measure and monitor GHG emissions in our operations using a leading third party solution (Resource Advisor) to track enterprise-wide, site-level data analytics. It combines quality assurance and data capture capabilities into one energy and carbon management solution which allows for secure access to data from global sites, and creation of reports and summaries to drive our sustainability programs and inform disclosures.
We use data from Resource Advisor and external databases such as the WRI Aqueduct to assess our sites’ exposure to climate-related risks and use scenario analysis to assess future risks. More details about our climate risk management are available in the TCFD report. We also continue to enhance our GHG emissions and climate risk disclosures in line with the CDP and GRI frameworks.
4 KEY LEVERS
Implementing
manufacturing process improvements
Investing
in renewable electricity and fuels
Promoting
energy efficiency
and retrofits
Defining
an offset strategy for unavoidable emissions
5 KEY LEVERS
Enhanced consumer education and engagement
Systemic grid changes
Changes in home ecosystems with connected appliances and energy storage
Product decarbonization and efficiency improvement
New business models with active resource management and closed loops
1 Per Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) Clothes Washers Energy Efficiency and Consumption Report
Scope 3, Category 11
In addition to managing the carbon footprint that is under our direct control in our operations, we also consider the indirect GHG emissions that fall outside our direct control, both upstream and downstream. Our products’ largest impact in terms of energy and water arises downstream in the use phase, consequently driving the largest climate impact for the company within Scope 3. We continue to progress towards our SBTi approved target of 20% reduction in emissions resulting from the use of our products (Scope 3, Category 11) by 2030, compared to 2016 levels. To achieve these goals, we invest in innovation to launch leading products that improve performance, while lowering their overall carbon footprint. In fact, we have achieved a 60% reduction since 2005, well above the current targets being set by the United States and the European Union for 2030.
Both GEMS and Resource Advisor use the GHG Protocol standards to calculate GHG emissions from our products in use (Scope 3, Category 11) and our operations (Scopes 1 & 2). Adhering to the criteria of the GHG Protocol, Whirlpool Corporation obtained external limited assurance from EY for the emissions disclosed in this sustainability report as part of our ongoing efforts to improve the transparency and accuracy of our disclosures.
Additionally, as we strive to further understand our climate impacts and potential risks, we enlisted an Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Fellow to quantify and analyze other categories of Scope 3 emissions. The Fellow utilized emissions screening results and accumulated relevant external research and assumptions in order to perform calculations and integrate results at a global scale. The Fellow was then able to evaluate these impacts along the business value chain to determine the appropriate next steps for Whirlpool Corporation to continue to improve our methodology and drive effective emissions reductions in areas such as purchased goods and services (Scope 3, Category 1) and end-of-life treatment of sold products (Scope 3, Category 12).
To address upstream emissions impacts, we continued our carbon offsetting initiative based on our use of advanced formulation blowing agents with lower global warming potential in refrigerators produced in North America. These conversions allow us to generate tradable environmental assets and operate in the voluntary carbon credits market by following the American Carbon Registry (ACR) methodology. ACR is a leading carbon offset program that has developed environmentally rigorous, science-based offset methodologies for years. Our carbon credits registered by ACR are sold to external buyers, and the funds are used by our product development teams to invest in innovative and sustainable products to help us achieve our emissions reduction goals.
1 The reporting boundary includes divested entities for the period in which they were owned by Whirlpool during the year.
2 The 2016 target base year was selected in accordance with the SBTi Criteria and Recommendations
Whirlpool Corporation has always held ourselves accountable and we developed our propietary Greenhouse Gas Emissions Management System (GEMS) to determine our global footprint in all regions and product models and drive scenario planning and strategic decision capability. GEMS tracks data from a baseline year of 2016 in a systematic way by unifying over 12 unique systems into one global reporting capability that employs energy and water label specifications and consumer usage data to calculate lifetime product in use emissions. To accurately convert energy consumption to emissions, GEMS considers the International Energy Agency (IEA)-provided emissions factors and an average product lifetime of 10 years.