Climate action

We want to do our part to preserve the climate and comply with the Paris Agreement on climate change. Therefore, we have set our own objectives:

By 2030, we intend to lower our direct (Scope 1) and indirect (Scope 2) greenhouse gas emissions by 50% compared with the base year 2020. We aim to achieve this mainly by reducing process-related emissions, implementing energy efficiency measures and purchasing more electricity from renewable sources.

In May 2022, this goal for 2030 was approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which independently assesses and approves company targets based on its strict climate science criteria. This approval by SBTi confirms that we are contributing to limiting global warming to 1.5 °C, thus complying with the requirements of the Paris Agreement.

We also aim to cover 80% of our purchased electricity with renewables by 2030.

Moreover, we aim to reduce our Scope 3 emissions across the entire value chain by 52% compared with 2020 (per euro of gross profit) by 2030. This target was also approved by SBTi.

By 2040, we intend to have achieved climate-neutral operations throughout our entire value chain; this target covers our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.

Roles and responsibilities

Corporate Sustainability, Quality and Trade Compliance is responsible for overseeing all climate action efforts throughout the Group, with our individual sites and business sectors worldwide implementing the necessary measures at the local level. More information can be found under “Environmental protection”.

Our commitment: Standards and legal frameworks

We have three EHS standards in place to manage energy and process-related emissions consistently across the Group, specifically “Energy Management”, “Air Emissions” and “Emissions of Refrigerants”. We use an internal audit process to randomly check compliance with all EHS standards.

Emissions reduced further

In 2023, we reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 17% compared with the previous year, emitting a total of approximately 1,463,000 metric tons of CO₂ equivalents (CO₂eq) (2022: 1,760,000).

Our direct emissions (Scope 1) totaled 1,236,000 metric tons of CO₂eq (2022: 1,518,000), with process-related emissions accounting for 990.000 metric tons of CO₂eq and fuel use accounting for the remainder. Indirect emissions (Scope 2) totaled roughly 227,000 metric tons of CO₂eq (2022: 242,000) calculated according to the market-based method (approximately 381,000 metric tons of CO₂eq according to the location-based method). Greenhouse gas emission intensity (Scope 1 and 2) amounted to 0.07 Kg of CO₂eq per € of net sales in this period (2022: 0.08).

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol defines 15 categories for Scope 3 emissions from upstream and downstream activities. In 2023, these emissions totaled around 4,594,000 metric tons of CO₂eq (2022: 6,680,000). Categories 1 and 2 (Purchased Goods and Services and Capital Goods) accounted for 62% (2022: 69%) of our total Scope 3 emissions in this period.

Transparency on CO₂ emissions and energy consumption

We report to CDP on an annual basis. This organization assesses the ways in which companies are working to lower greenhouse gas emissions and minimize the risks and consequences of climate change, along with their strategy for doing so. Companies are rated from A to D-, with A being the top score. In 2023, we scored A- (2022: B) for climate change.

Energy consumption and renewable energy

We consumed 2,337 gigawatt hours of energy in 2023 compared with 2,432 gigawatt hours in 2022. As in the previous year, our energy intensity relative to sales remained at 0.11 kWh/€ in 2023.

In 2023, we further strengthened our focus on purchasing electricity from renewable sources. In this period, we sourced 51% of our purchased electricity from renewable energies, meaning direct supply contracts and energy attribute certificates (2022: 47%). The share of our total energy consumption by renewable energies increased to 23% in 2023 (2022: 20%).

In 2023, we signed virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) in Europe for a total of around 300 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable energy per year. This means that 100% of our electricity currently purchased in the European Union (EU) and Switzerland will be covered with renewable energy certificates as of 2025.

We use photovoltaics to produce power at multiple sites.

We currently only record purchased secondary energy – this is primarily electricity and, to a lesser extent, heat, steam and cold. Details on the local energy mix, including the respective percentage of primary energy, renewable energy, etc. are not available. Data on local energy efficiency in electricity or heat generation are not available either. Our production sites are located in countries with a widely varying energy mix.