Tag: #CLIMATE

Kingspan Group releases its second annual report for its 10-year sustainability programme

Kingspan Group, the global leader in advanced insulation and building solutions, has released its second annual report for its 10-year sustainability programme, Planet Passionate.

Highlights include a 4.3% reduction in scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions and a 29% reduction in carbon intensity year-on-year, against a background of 42% total revenue growth for the period.

For the second year running, the Group has made absolute reductions towards its 2030 net zero carbon manufacturing goal. This is underpinned by a verified SBTi target to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 90% by 2030, from a 2020 base year.

Achieving this will require the decarbonisation of Kingspan’s energy sources and processes across its existing 198 manufacturing sites (up from 166 in 2020), while supporting newly acquired businesses to decarbonise as quickly as possible.

To accelerate the Group’s decarbonisation strategy, the report has announced the introduction of an internal carbon charge of €70 per tonne of CO2e, which will be implemented throughout the business in 2023.

The 2021 Planet Passionate report illustrates the positive progress made to date against the majority of the programme’s 12 measurable targets in carbon, energy, water and circularity. Notable achievements include:

  • Energy: An increase in the direct use of renewable energy from 19.5% to 26.1%, and an increase in the percentage of wholly-owned facilities with solar PV from 21.7% to 28.4%. The Group also achieved a 15% reduction in energy intensity[4] year-on-year.
  • Carbon: An increase in the percentage of zero emissions company funded cars from 11% to 29%.
  • Circularity: A reduction in company waste to landfill of 13%, as well as 843 million PET bottles recycled into our processes.
  • Water: The Group announced its second ocean cleanup project: a partnership with cleantech startup SeabinTM, to deploy their unique technology first in Sydney Harbour followed by LA later in 2022. This follows a three-year partnership with the ECOALF Foundation which works with a network of 2,000 artisan fishermen to remove around 150 tonnes of marine debris each year from the Mediterranean.

In addition, Kingspan’s science-based targets were updated in 2021 and are now in line with a 1.5°C future. Limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C means that the world must achieve a 45% reduction in global CO2 emissions versus 2010 levels by 2030.

While Kingspan did not make progress in 2021 against its target to halve the product CO2e intensity from its primary supply partners by 2030, the report highlights ongoing collaboration with suppliers to this end.

Moreover, during the year Kingspan invested in H2 Green Steel, a company pioneering new production methods for lower-impact steel manufacturing using green hydrogen. Use of lower-emissions steel could help Kingspan reduce the embodied carbon of its insulated panel products by up to 45%.

The report also presents the impact of Kingspan products sold during 2021. The built environment is responsible for roughly 39% of global carbon emissions[6], and high-performance insulation is one of the most important ways to increase energy-efficiency in buildings. The insulation systems Kingspan sold during 2021 are projected to save 193 million tCO2e during their lifetime. That’s equivalent to the emissions from 42 million passenger vehicles in a year.

In addition, Kingspan announced a new initiative called Planet Passionate Communities, a programme that will support people and communities around the world. The report unveils the programme’s flagship project: a five-year partnership with GOAL, the international humanitarian response agency, to support them in their transformative work in areas of most need.

Gene Murtagh, CEO of Kingspan Group, said: “The climate crisis, the pandemic, and now recent global events all serve to concentrate the mind on the need to build a more resilient and equitable world while ensuring energy security. Planet Passionate is our contribution to a future that uses resources efficiently, protects the natural world and delivers high-performance, energy-efficient products and solutions to our customers and global communities.”

Bianca Wong, Head of Sustainability of Kingspan Group, said: “Delivering a programme of this scale against a background of rapid business growth takes huge effort and determination and I would like to thank and commend the incredible efforts of our people across the world to achieve positive progress against the majority of our targets for the second year in a row.”

View the full version of Kingspan’s Planet Passionate Sustainability Report at:

https://viewer.ipaper.io/kingspan/pp-report-2022/planet-passionate-report-2021/

Blink Parametric Platform is Launched across Travel, Climate, Energy and IOT Sectors. #InsureTech #IoT #BlinkParametric

An Irish Insurtech which is making waves across the globe, has just launched Blink Parametric, a broad-based parametric insurance solutions platform to allow insurers around the world bring the benefits of parametrics to their customers.

The launch comes as the latest success for Blink, who having only set up in 2016, have since experienced significant growth, partnering with some of the world’s largest insurers and reinsurers such as Blue Cross Canassurance Group, Pluto in the UK, Manulife and TuGo in Canada, Generali in Hong Kong, Munich Re in Germany and Financial Conduct Authority in London. 

Speaking on the expansion of the business concept and what it will mean for Blink partners, Paul Prendergast, CEO of Blink,

“We have been working on this platform expansion for 2 years now so it’s exciting to finally be able to launch it. Parametrics is an Insurtech gamechanger globally, and Blink is leading parametric insurance product innovation, by transforming our clients’ complex offerings into simple, intuitive, online products. By using parametrics, we are simplifying that which people might ordinarily deem convoluted – by simply offering a pre-agreed amount of cover, based on the probability of a pre-defined triggering event. We are already using it widely with our travel partners in North America, Singapore, Australia, Turkey and the UK and with great success. Insurers recognise that what we offer adds real value to what they can then offer their clients and customers. Parametrics allows clients to self-serve, assessment is data-led, and claims pay-outs are immediate”.

 

 Blink Parametric platform-based solutions span the Travel, Climate, Energy and IOT sectors.

It comprises:

–          Blink Travel which offers customers a proactive real-time insurance service that meets the speed and convenience that modern customers demand of their travel insurance provider, on-line travel agent, airline, transport provider or enterprise travel specialists.

Mr. Prendergast explained,

“If a customer misses a flight or experiences a delay, we can provide them with real-time options like a lounge pass, a hotel room or an instant cash pay-out. We offer customisable software that can be adapted to innovate our partners insurance solution”.

 

–          Blink Climate which offers an efficient, rapid, tailored, risk cover. It is a metric-based insurance solution adaptable to risk factors including climate change, extreme weather and natural disasters.

Mr. Prendergast explained,

“A farmer for example can secure cover for specific harmful climate conditions (drought or flooding etc) occurring within a fixed period of the year. The parameters of the insurance cover are clear, and the determination of a claims pay-out are automated and conclusive as they are supported by measured weather data across that specific period. Customers benefit from immediate claims decisions, without a lengthy loss adjustor process time. We can adapt to specific requirements, as our partners determine the policy criteria, enabling them to add tangible value to their insurance offering”.

 

–          Blink Energy & IOT which is a parametric insurance technology solution adaptable to such risk factors associated with domestic appliance and industrial-led IoT.

Mr. Prendergast explained,

“Exposure to frequent and unpredictable environmental changes is now impacting on our energy consumption levels. Blink Energy Parametric Insurance Solution can be designed to monitor the increase or decrease in energy usage during a pre-defined time period. Based on data-led assessment, it can deliver insurance cover, as oil, gas, electric and renewable energy shifts in terms of demand and cost. For example, an energy provider could give automatic support to vulnerable customers where they have secured cover on the occurrence of an extended spell of freezing temperatures across a specific period. IoT devices that create connected homes with the use of smart devices, smart meters and digital assistants provide huge amounts of data that can inform a multitude of solution-based parametric insurance services.”

 

Mr. Prendergast spoke as to why he believes they have experienced such rapid growth and expansion to date,

“Our business development and integration teams have been stellar, and we are really fortunate that our reputation has helped open doors for us along the way with insurance companies that are ready to introduce a step-change to their business and customer relationships. 

Our commercial strategy has been to enable our insurance partners to innovate and to collaborate with them to build new experiences for their customers. We are agile and expert and have the capacity to have an insurance solution implemented within a 12-week timeframe. The industry feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and we are on track to achieve 3 million users by the end of 2020”.