Alcan Selected as Industry Leader on Ceres Climate Change Governance Practices Report

Alcan Inc. (NYSE, TSX: AL) announced today that it has been selected as one of the top three companies overall and the leading company in the metals and mining industry in a Ceres investor coalition report that rates 100 global organizations on their governance practices for handling the risks and opportunities posed by global climate change.

"To be recognized from across a broad scope of industry as a leading company in addressing the challenges of climate change is a testament to the hard work the Company and its employees are doing in delivering concrete, tangible reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across Alcan’s approximately 430 sites," said Dick Evans, President and Chief Executive Officer, Alcan Inc. "Alcan is committed to embedding sustainability into its operations as part of the Company’s strategy for long term competitiveness," he added.

In 2001, Alcan launched TARGET, a GHG reductions program and a key component of EHS FIRST: the Company’s framework and mindset through which its commitment to putting environment, health and safety first is translated into recordable and measurable actions. Through TARGET, Alcan achieved 2.9 million tonnes of GHG reductions from 2001 to 2004, while overall primary metal production increased by 40 percent. Alcan is evaluating new targets for 2006 and supports the goal of the aluminum industry to be carbon neutral by 2020 on a life-cycle basis.

Alcan is a member of various voluntary programs in all regions where it has major installations, including the EPA’s Climate Leaders program in the United States and the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA). The Company has been active in advising governments on a national level for the U.K. and E.U. Emissions Trading Schemes, and also participates in the World Economic Forum’s Global Greenhouse Gas Register.

Entitled "Corporate Governance & Climate Change: Making the Connection," the Ceres report evaluated companies according to a Climate Change Governance Checklist, consisting of 14 governance steps that companies can take to proactively address climate change.

"This report is the first comprehensive measurement of how 100 leading global companies are preparing and positioning themselves to face the challenges of climate change," said Mindy S. Lubber, President at Ceres. "Through energy efficiency and innovative new-product development, Alcan is doing a great job tackling the risks and opportunities from this issue. Company leaders and board members deserve special credit for putting well-functioning governance systems in place to meet this challenge," she added.

Ceres is a national network of investment funds, environmental organizations and other public interest groups in the USA, working to advance environmental stewardship on the part of businesses. Ceres also directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a two-year-old alliance of 50 institutional investors that collectively manage about
US$3 trillion in assets.