8 February 2021: Coats, the world’s leading industrial thread company, has committed to set science-based emissions reduction targets, across the entire value chain, that are consistent with keeping global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

It has also committed to a long-term target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the highest level of ambition on climate under the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi).

Rajiv Sharma, Group Chief Executive, Coats, said: ‘A key part of the Coats company purpose is to make a better and more sustainable world. We have already laid out an ambitious set of targets in our sustainability strategy. Making commitments like this to address our emissions builds on our sustainability strategy and demonstrates our resolve to be a role model and catalyst for change in the area of climate change.’

Coats joins a growing group of leading companies that are paving the way to a net-zero future under the Business Ambition for 1.5°C call to action.

Science-based targets provide companies with a clearly defined pathway to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, thus helping to prevent the worst expected impacts of climate change while future-proofing business growth. SBTi defines and promotes best practice in science-based target setting and independently assesses and approves companies’ targets. It is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, one of the SBTi partners, said: ‘The climate emergency has led CEOs to act urgently and decisively to set science-based emissions reduction targets for their companies in line with a 1.5°C pathway. The movement to transition to a net-zero economy by 2050 is also growing rapidly, and we call on all business leaders to adopt concrete plans to realise this goal.’

Coats launched its new sustainability strategy in 2019 when it set out seven ambitious targets for 2022 across five priority areas in order to accelerate the company’s progress towards a more sustainable future.

Coats joining the SBTi follows on from it joining the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in January 2021. It is also a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index Series and a participant in the UN Global Compact. Coats is fully committed to the UN Global Compact Principles on Human Rights, Labour, the Environment and Anti-Corruption, and continues to progress the implementation of these Principles in operations and across its supply chain. It also identified the most relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to its business operations and will continue to ensure that its activities are contributing towards the achievement of its sustainability goals.

For further information go to our Sustainability section.

ENDS