A few degrees might not sound like much, but it makes a big difference to the future of our planet. To limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050 – and meet the commitment made in the United Nations’ Paris Agreement on climate change – we need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions rapidly. Achieving this ambitious target will only be possible if governments and companies embrace this challenge as an opportunity to drive innovation and explore visionary ideas.
Of course, these emissions are driven by modern lifestyles. This means the greatest potential for positive change is in transforming the way we live. This could involve increasing energy efficiency and cutting the related emissions. It could also be achieved by decarbonizing our way of life and replacing traditional energy sources with renewable energy. Or it could even be made possible by turning carbon dioxide into a resource – by exploring innovative technologies that convert it into energy, breaking the cycle of greenhouse gas pollution.
-
1120194
teaser
HKVideo
-
<iframe scrolling="no" height="306" width="500" frameborder="0" src="http://edge-cdn.net/video_1356415?width=0&height=0&player=v2&playerskin=42631"></iframe>
Our climate action along the value chain
1120194
Committed to climate protection
Henkel fully supports the commitment of the United Nations’ Paris Agreement on climate change. For this reason, we want to become a climate-positive company by 2040 and make an active and committed contribution to climate protection. This begins with a strong focus on our own production sites, where we aim to reduce our carbon footprint by 65 percent by 2025 and by 75 percent by 2030 (base year 2o10). To do so, we want to continually improve our energy efficiency while also drawing 100 percent of the electricity we use from renewable sources.
With our vision to become a climate-positive company by 2040, we want to replace the last remaining fossil fuels used in our production with climate-neutral alternatives such as biogas or gas obtained from converting CO2. We also aim to supply surplus carbon-free energy that Henkel does not need for its own purposes to third parties. In doing so, we will avoid emissions from our own activities and also enable third parties to avoid potential emissions by using clean energy. Supplying others with this energy means that our operations will become climate-positive.
Alongside this, we’re sharing our commitment to becoming climate-positive with our partners and suppliers. We also expect them to make a contribution to the reduction of CO2 along the entire value chain. Therefore, we have the ambitious target to reduce the carbon footprint of our raw materials and packaging that we use by 30 percent per ton of product by 2030 compared to the base year 2017.
Based on our long-term goals, Henkel derived specific emission reduction targets, which were approved by the Science Based Targets initiative as consistent with levels required to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Innovating for our planet’s future
Of course, we also seek opportunities while constantly developing innovative products and technologies that empower our customers and consumers to cut their carbon footprint. This is particularly important because our products are used millions of times in households and industrial processes every day – and lifecycle analysis shows that the majority of the carbon footprint associated with a product is generated when it is used. For this reason, we’ve set ourselves the target that 100 million ton of CO2 are saved together with our consumers, customers and suppliers in the period 2016-2025. Our interim target for 2020 is to help customers and consumers save 50 million tons of CO2 when using our products.
