Sustainability

Long-term commitment to environmental protection

nora is part of the internationally operating floor covering manufacturer Interface and we strive to make our high performance products in healthier and more responsible ways every day, from using our certified environmental management system to use less water and energy in our production facilities to rigorously evaluating every ingredient we use.

We spend most of our everyday lives in closed rooms, so choosing the right floor covering is important for our experience. nora floor coverings are made of materials that have been carefully selected for low emissions to indoor air. These materials include high-quality natural and industrial rubber, minerals from natural deposits and environmentally compatible colour pigments. nora introduced its environmental management system in 1996 and has been certified in accordance with ISO 14001 since 2008.

Environmental protection and healthy living have long been core components of our company philosophy. Becoming part of Interface in 2018 has enabled us to raise the bar even higher by joining their initiatives such as Climate Take Back and programmes with the goal of becoming a carbon negative company by 2040.

"We have a choice to make during our brief visit to this beautiful blue and green living planet:
To hurt it or to help it."

Ray Anderson, Pioneer in health and environmental compatibility, Interface founder

Interface sets Science Based Target to reduce absolute emissions 50 % by 2030*

In September 2021, Interface and nora as part of it became the first flooring com pany to have our ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This important third-party validation acknowledges that our goals to reduce emissions by 2030 are at the right ambition level to address global climate change.

What is a Science Based Target?

A coalition of environmental organizations called the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) reviews company commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with scientific criteria to keep the planet at safe temperatures. If a company’s targets are ambitious enough, the SBTi validates the targets as science based. Over 2,900 companies globally have committed to set an SBT and around 2,400 targets have been approved. We joined this important group of leaders in October 2021.

About Science Based Targets
  • Company is obliged to report all GHG emissions.
  • Avoided emissions do not count toward science based targets.
  • Target year for reduction between 5 and 15 years from base year.
  • The target must include Scope 1 & 2 and Scope 3 if they exceed 40 % of the company's total carbon footprint.
  • Target must be in line with what is required to maintain tempera tures on earth at a safe level.

     

Why has Interface committed to a Science Based Target?

To hold off some of the worst climate impacts and avoid irreversible damage to our societies, economies, and the natural world, we must keep the planet’s temperature increase to 1.5 degrees. This requires halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and hitting net-zero emissions by 2050. It will take governments and companies working together to accomplish this. By setting SBTs, Interface supports the global climate protection goal of the Paris climate agreement.

Setting an Science Based Target is a natural step for Interface. We are a recognized sustainability leader, and we have already pledged to reverse global warming through our Climate Take Back mission. Our Science Based Target – which we’re working to achieve by 2030 – is an important step on the way to become a carbon negative enterprise by 2040.

Our Commitment

Interface has set a Science Based Target to halve our company CO₂ emissions by 2030. We also have set a target to halve the CO₂ emissions of the biggest part of our supply chain emissions by 2030. Our science-based target would be aggressive for any company, but Interface is adopting this on top of aggressively reducing the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from our business by more than 96 percent since 1996.

Through various initiatives, nora rubber floors contribute to attaining these ambitious goals and help to reduce GHG emissions. This supports the path towards a pioneering achievement: sustainable production of rubber flooring.

* Interface commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 50% by 2030 from a 2019 base year. Interface commits to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services 50% and from business travel and employee commuting 30% within the same timeframe.
 

We’re ‘all in’ on solving the climate crisis -- with carbon reductions, not offsets.

Absolute emission reduction is critical to meet the climate crisis. We’re backing up our words with more investment in solutions that accelerate carbon reduction and storage, rather than offsets.
 

We have more work to do to become the most sustainable company in the world. We’ve made incredible progress in our 30-year journey, and we’ll keep innovating and improving to reach our carbon negative goal by 2040. We are investing more in critical R&D and innovation projects focused on direct action and impact, rather than offsets, to meet our ambitious objectives.

 
 

Learn more about Interface's mission in sustainability

WE'RE ‘all in’ ON SOLVING THE CLIMATE CRISES

LEARN MORE
 
 
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