Our management approach, annual performance, and data related to climate change.
Taking Action on Climate Change
Climate change is a key global risk that is directly influenced by human activity and requires decisive action. We have a responsibility to help address this global challenge by reducing emissions at our operations and in our value chain and by sustainably producing the metals, minerals and energy that are essential for building the technologies and infrastructure needed to transition to a low-carbon economy.
Climate Change and Our Sustainability Strategy
Climate change is a challenge that requires decisive action. We recognize the important role we play in the shift to a low-carbon economy and have established a strategy with short- and long-term goals for reducing emissions, with the ultimate goal of being carbon-neutral by 2050.
View Teck's Climate Change Policy
At Teck, we understand that users of climate-related financial disclosures are interested in understanding our climate change strategy in a format that is consistent and transparent with other organizations. We have signed and support the Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.
View Teck’s TCFD-aligned Climate Change Outlook Report
Strategic Priority:
Be a carbon-neutral operator by 2050
Goals:
- Reduce the carbon intensity of our operations by 33% by 2030
- Procure 50% of our electricity demands in Chile from clean energy by 2025 and 100% by 2030
- Accelerate the adoption of zero-emissions alternatives for transportation by displacing the equivalent of 1,000 internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2025
Our Climate Change Strategy
Our climate change strategy is focused on producing the metals and minerals essential for a low-carbon future, reducing the carbon footprint of our operations and value chain, supporting broad-based and effective carbon pricing, and enhancing our resiliency to climate risks.
Our focus is on growing our copper business to further rebalance our portfolio to metals and minerals essential for low-carbon technologies, while building on our head start as one of the world’s lowest carbon intensity producers of copper, refined zinc, lead and steelmaking coal.
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Today |
Focus on copper growth to meet demand fueled by the low-carbon economy |
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10+ Years |
Prudently growing our metals business in areas essential to the transition to a low-carbon world |
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20+ Years |
Leading metals producer supplying essential metals for a low-carbon world |
Major progress towards becoming carbon neutral across our operations by 2050 |
1. Barclays Research; Teck 2017
Four Pillars of Climate Action
Teck is one of Canada’s leading mining companies committed to responsibly producing metals and minerals needed for a low-carbon future, including copper, zinc, steelmaking coal and energy.
Detailed data and scenarios which inform our portfolio composition can be found in our most recent TCFD-aligned report. Through all scenarios are common threads of how these minerals and metals will be used:
Copper
We are a significant copper producer in the Americas, with four operating mines in Canada, Chile and Peru, and copper development projects in North and South America. We are preparing to double copper production in 2023 through completion of our QB2 copper project. The carbon performance of our copper assets ranks in the top 10% globally and is expected to improve further as we work towards our climate commitments. Copper demand is set to grow as the world transitions towards low-emissions technologies and will continue to be driven by trends in low-emissions vehicles, energy storage, improved energy efficiency and renewable energy generation.
Energy generation technologies that require copper
Global electric vehicle copper consumption by power train, MT
Zinc
We are one of the world’s largest producers of mined zinc, primarily from our Red Dog Operations in Alaska and from the Antamina copper mine in northern Peru, which has significant zinc co-product production. Our metallurgical complex in Trail, B.C. is one of the world’s largest integrated zinc and lead smelting and refining operations. The carbon performance of Teck’s zinc mining assets ranks in the top quartile for our industry. Zinc has multiple applications across the renewable energy and transportation sectors, and its demand is set to grow as the world transitions to a low-carbon economy.
Steelmaking Coal
Teck is the world’s second-largest seaborne exporter of steelmaking coal, an essential ingredient in the production of steel, which will be used to build the infrastructure required to transition to a low-carbon economy. Our steelmaking coal operations are low greenhouse gas (GHG)-intensity producers, ranking in the second quartile globally. All our steelmaking coal mines are covered by carbon pricing. As steel producers look to reduce the GHG emissions intensity of their production and potentially begin to face rising carbon prices, Teck’s steelmaking coal will be a preferred product.
Energy
Teck’s energy business unit primarily includes a 21.3% limited partnership interest in Fort Hills, a long-life, state-of–the-art operation in Canada’s oil sands. The carbon performance of Fort Hills benefits from a process called paraffinic froth treatment (PFT), which produces better-quality bitumen and leaves carbon-intensive asphaltenes in the ground. Operations like Fort Hills are carbon-competitive with alternative sources in North America and elsewhere in the world. The bitumen extraction technology used by Fort Hills has a greenhouse gas intensity that is among the lowest of any Canadian oil sands production.
For more information about Teck’s role in achieving and thriving in a low-carbon future, see our TCFD-aligned Teck Climate Change Outlook 2021 Report.
Teck has more than a decade of experience setting and achieving greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, and we are committed to reducing our operational GHGs in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C. In 2020, we set a strategic priority to be a carbon-neutral operator by 2050, with interim goals to 2025 and 2030.
To achieve our goals, we look at where the most significant emissions reductions can occur, when abatement technologies are available and when we can turn over existing equipment. We have identified renewable electricity and low-emissions alternatives to material movement as focus areas to support our 2025 and 2030 goals. Our abatement options include renewable electricity, electrifying our mobile equipment, electrification and low-carbon fuels for stationary combustion and processes, methane recovery and offsets.
In 2020 we announced our goal to be climate neutral by 2050. This graph shows the various technologies and approaches that we plan to employ to achieve this goal.
Our objective is to deliver significant emissions reductions. To achieve our goals, we look at where the most significant emissions reductions can occur, when abatement technologies are available and when we can turn over existing equipment.
We are moving to electric equipment as an area of focus to support our 2025 and 2030 goals. With respect to our 2030 goals, achieving 100% renewable electricity in Chile is projected to deliver 50% of our goal. Our focus for the remaining emissions required to achieve our 2030 goal is on diesel consumption in mobile equipment. While our focus over this decade is on tackling emissions from our electricity supply and mobile equipment, we will also monitor and, in some cases, work to accelerate innovation on abatement technologies that are able to reduce emissions from stationary combustion and fugitive methane.
We are also evaluating the role of nature-based solutions in delivering emissions reductions. Should we be unable to achieve emissions reductions at our operations at the pace that we have committed to, or should the right opportunities present, we may also obtain and retire credible and verifiable carbon offsets, which would have an impact on our costs and potentially our competitive position.
We have resources committed to managing our decarbonization journey and will continue to provide updates on our progress annually in our Sustainability Report and other public materials.
For more information about Teck’s strategy to reduce our carbon footprint, see our TCFD-aligned Teck Climate Change Outlook 2021 Report.
We believe action must be taken across all areas of our society and economy to combat climate change and that broad-based, effective carbon pricing can play a vital role in reducing GHG emissions.
Teck has partnered with several organizations worldwide to work together on the challenge of climate change and support carbon pricing. Teck is a signatory to the Paris Pledge for Action and was the first Canadian resource company to join the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, a partnership of national and subnational governments, businesses and organizations working towards integrating carbon pricing into the global economy.
We also have a head start on incorporating carbon pricing into our business as all of our steelmaking coal, refined zinc and lead, and energy businesses and 43% of our copper business are already covered by a carbon price in Canada.
For more information about Teck’s support for appropriate carbon pricing policies see our TCFD-aligned Teck Climate Change Outlook 2021 Report.
In addition to the actions we are taking to reduce the effects of climate change by lowering emissions and advocating for progressive climate action strategies, we are focused on managing the potential physical risks and opportunities that may result from the ongoing changes to our climate.
We are taking into account the increased frequency of extreme weather events and working to incorporate climate change scenarios and vulnerability assessments into project design and evaluation, as well as at our existing operations.
For more information about Teck’s role in achieving and thriving in a low-carbon future, see our TCFD-aligned Teck Climate Change Outlook 2021 Report.
The Paris Pledge for Action
Teck has partnered with organizations worldwide to work together on the challenge of climate change. Teck is a signatory to the Paris Pledge for Action in support of reducing emissions and achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Our Vision in Action
Energy
As one of Canada’s leading mining companies, Teck is committed to responsible mining and mineral development with major business units focused on copper, zinc, and steelmaking coal, as well as investments in energy assets.