Trafigura Group, a market leader in the global commodities industry, has today made a new commitment as a founding member of the First Movers Coalition. Led by the World Economic Forum and the US government, the First Movers Coalition (FMC) targets the heavy industry and long-distance transport sectors responsible for 30 percent of global emissions – a proportion expected to rise to over 50 percent by mid-century without urgent progress on clean technology innovation.

The announcement of a major expansion of the First Movers Coalition was made by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry alongside Bill Gates, founder of Breakthrough Energy, at a press briefing hosted by the World Economic Forum at its Annual Meeting 2022.

The Coalition, launched by US President Biden and the World Economic Forum at COP26, has now expanded to more than 50 corporate members worth about $8.5 trillion and a total of nine leading governments, including the US, covering over 40 percent of global GDP. The FMC also launched two new sectors: carbon dioxide removal and aluminium, which join the existing four sectoral pledges (aviation, shipping, steel, and trucking) launched at COP26 in November 2021.

Trafigura joins Ball Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Novelis and Volvo Group as founding members of the coalition’s new aluminium sector. The companies have committed that 10 percent of total primary aluminium purchased by 2030 will comprise near-zero carbon aluminium, produced using advanced technologies not yet commercially available.

“In making this new commitment we are sending a firm market demand signal for emerging technologies essential for a net-zero transition,” said Jeremy Weir, Trafigura Executive Chairman and CEO.

Trafigura is a major participant in aluminium markets, managing supply chains between producers and customers. The company has supported the decarbonisation of the sector through new technologies and producers’ ongoing efforts to move to renewable energy, including providing a low carbon aluminium financing facility launched in 2020 to secure lower cost financing and pass on the savings to producers to incentivise lower carbon production.

“We believe that near-zero and low-carbon aluminium will be a premium product in the market once the technologies required start to be commercially deployed and we’re delighted to help to accelerate this process,” concluded Jeremy Weir.

As a Founding Member of the FMC, Trafigura is a signatory to commitments to purchase and use zero-carbon shipping fuels by 2030.