Neova Group’s Sustainability Report 2023 published as part of the Annual Report
Neova Group’s annual report for 2023 has been published. The report includes the Annual Report, the Financial statements and Board of Directors’ report as well as the Sustainability Report for 2023. The Group’s Financial Statements Review for 2023 has been published on 29.2.2024.
Aiming for net positivity
Neova Group’s goal is to create sustainable green growth in all business areas – Creating Green Growth. The Group’s sustainability strategy defines the main sustainability themes and sustainability targets for 2025 and 2030 in three areas: environmental sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability.
In line with the sustainability strategy, the Group’s goal is net positivity. In practice, this means that products and services generate more positive value for customers and society than the impact of producing them on the environment.
The key themes of the updated sustainability strategy are as follows:
- We do our business in balance with nature
- Themes: Greenhouse gas emissions, Biodiversity, Circular economy and Water.
- We support the growth of our people and partners
- Themes: Safety first!, Great workplace, and Responsible partners.
- We ensure our profitability sustainable way
The priorities and measures of sustainability are defined according to the specificities of each business and are linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Neova Group is committed to the principles of the UN Global Compact in all its activities.
In 2023,the achievement of Group’s medium-term (2025) and long-term (2030) sustainability targets progressed very favorably for several targets.
The Group’s accident frequency rate decreased by 50%
Our key sustainability focus area has been to improve our safety culture in all our businesses. The Finnish and Estonian operations achieved the goal of zero accidents in occupational safety for the second year in a row. Our accident frequency for the whole Neova Group has decreased by more than 50% since 2019.
In 2023, we continued to invest in safety training and risk assessments. We carried out more than 50 different risk assessments and more than 30 internal audits. We also launched an online safety course for all personnel. The course was completed by 99% of the personnel.
Our Great Place to Work results were at a good level despite the restructuring carried out in the second half of 2023. We retained the Great Place to Work certification in two of our operating countries: Sweden and Estonia.
Target to halve carbon dioxide emissions progressing well
Neova Group’s goal is to halve the CO2 emissions of its own operations by 2025. In 2023, the cumulative decrease (scope 1+2) was 34% of the 2018 level. Emissions from own operations have decreased most due to the decrease in soil emissions from peat production areas. The reduction in soil emissions from the 2018 level is 36%.
In the Group’s sustainability strategy, the analysis of CO2 emissions was expanded to the entire value chain at the beginning of 2021 by setting an ambitious target to halve the emission intensity of the entire value chain from raw material source to end use of products by 2030. In 2023, the cumulative emission intensity reduced by 22% compared to 2020 level.
Neova contributes to biodiversity by restoring 2,000 hectares of peat production areas and transferring 20,000 hectares to the next land use
Neova Group’s biodiversity programme aims to increase biodiversity by restoring 2,000 hectares of production areas between 2021 and 2025 in cooperation with local stakeholders. In 2021-2023, we have restored a total of 263 hectares of wetlands. In 2023, we opened one of Finland’s largest wetlands in the old Haapasuo peat bog area next to Leivonmäki National Park.
During the year, we transferred 4,100 hectares of land use in Finland to the next land use. Since 2019, a total of 19,800 hectares have been transferred to the next land use and we will meet the 2025 target of 20,000 hectares one year early.
Already 64% of the peat used by Kekkilä-BVB has received RPP (Responsibly Produced Peat) certification. In addition, Kekkilä-BVB has increased the share of recycled plastic in packaging materials to 37% in 2023 (31% in 2022).
Sustainability is strongly integrated into our business strategies and supply chain work
During 2023, we continued significant projects related to the sustainability of the entire supply chain, including a responsible sourcing programme for engaging key suppliers, and implementing the Green Factory concept at our own factories.
Most importantly sustainability is strongly integrated into our business strategies. This has been especially visible in our strategically important business development activities i.e. wind and solar project development in old peat bog areas, biostimulant product development project and Green Growth Raw Materials program development to increase the absolute volume of circular and complimentary raw materials in our product portfolio. As well our energy peat sales have played a key role in security of supply during 2023 in Finland.
”We are very proud of the progress of our sustainability work towards our ambitious goals in both the areas of environmental and social sustainability. Our sustainability work is strongly integrated into business strategies and business development and action plans. Our work is meaningful and it is reflected in our personnel’s commitment to sustainability work. I also firmly believe that this systematic and goal-oriented promotion of sustainability responds well to the expectations of our stakeholders and that our cooperation with various stakeholders has taken our sustainability work forward. And finally, I would like to express my gratitude to all our employees for taking care of occupational health and safety and team spirit during a challenging operating environment,” says Petri Järvinen, Chief Supply Chain and Sustainability Officer at Neova Group.
The report is available at: https://www.neova-group.com/sustainability/sustainability-reports/
More information:
- Petri Järvinen, Chief Supply Chain and Sustainability Officer, Neova Oy, tel. +358 50 482 4071
- Ahti Martikainen, Director, Communications and Public Affairs, Neova Oy, tel. +358 40 680 4723