Endress+Hauser has achieved a further milestone in sustainability: The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has validated the group’s greenhouse gas reduction targets.
Both the near-term target for 2034 and the net-zero target for 2050 are therefore in harmony with the 1.5-degree Celsius path of the Paris Climate Agreement and correspond with current scientific findings.
SBTi offers a framework and guidelines to ensure that companies’ emission reduction targets are in accordance with the latest scientific findings. Endress+Hauser has committed to reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. The group thus supports the efforts of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level.
“Only with climate and environmental protection will life worth living on Earth be possible in the future,” said Endress+Hauser CEO Dr Peter Selders. “Sustainability is therefore not an ideal but a necessity that we have to make economically viable. This applies to our customers and to us. We can support the sustainable transformation of the process industry with our products. Of course, we must also become more sustainable ourselves, and that is what we are doing.”
Group sets itself ambitious goals
The SBTi has now validated Endress+Hauser’s reduction targets. These include the absolute GHG emissions in the company through energy consumption (scope 1) and purchased energy (scope 2), as well as in the upstream and downstream value-added chains (scope 3).
Compared to the base year 2023, the group must reduce its emissions by 90%; a maximum of 10% may be offset through permanent carbon removal and storage according to the SBTi guidelines.
As a near-term target, Endress+Hauser has committed to reducing absolute GHG emissions in scopes 1 and 2 by 80% by 2034, again compared to 2023. Scope 3 emissions are to be reduced by 35% over the same period.
“These targets are ambitious, but we are well positioned,” said the group’s corporate sustainability officer Julia Schempp. “We have already identified areas of action and have developed a sustainability strategy for our portfolio.”
Bundle of measures to reduce emissions
Within its own sphere of influence, Endress+Hauser wants to increase the proportion of renewable energy, to take additional measures regarding efficiency and to expand electromobility. A CO2 dashboard has been set up so that the Group companies can see where they stand on their path for the near-term target of 2034. It indicates, for example, which emissions result from fuel consumption and the external procurement of electricity and heat, and the share of energy from renewable sources.
Endress+Hauser has also taken a raft of measures to reduce emissions in the upstream and downstream value-added chains. At 97%, scope 3 accounts for almost the entire carbon footprint of the Group. “This results from the purchase of steel and aluminum, which we use in our devices, as well as the long service life of our measurement technology,” explained Schempp. The company wants to tackle this in purchasing and product design.
Finalist in the German Sustainability Award
These efforts are also reflected in the company’s high ranking in the German Sustainability Award. It is considered Europe’s greatest recognition for ecological and social commitment. In 2024, the independent foundation honored 100 pioneers from business, science and the public sector for their contributions to sustainable transformation. Endress+Hauser was among the three finalists in the measurement and control technology category.
The award is based on demanding assessments by a jury of experts. Transparent processes and objective criteria help the nominated companies and organisations to further improve their sustainability performance. The German Sustainability Award was presented on November 28, 2024 in Düsseldorf as part of the German Sustainability Day, one of the leading congresses of its kind.--TradeArabia News Service
