Evonik's climate targets are in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. This has been scientifically verified and confirmed by the independent Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The company's targets related to greenhouse gas emission reduction help limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius. Evonik is aiming to revalidate its climate targets in the near future so that it can also support a path that limits warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050.

The company presented its new sustainability strategy already last year and committed itself to SBTi’s targets. Evonik submitted to the initiative its plan for reducing scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2030: from currently 6.3 million metric tons (base year 2021) to 4.7 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. "The validation of our savings targets by the SBTi gives us confidence that we are on the right track. It motivates us to work hard to further reduce emissions significantly," says Thomas Wessel, Chief Human Resources Officer, Labor Relations Director and responsible for Climate and Sustainability on Evonik's Executive Board.

To achieve the targets, three building blocks will be used, each contributing around one third to the CO2 emission reduction per year: the commissioning of the new gas and steam turbine power plant replacing the existing coal-fired power plant in Marl, focused initiatives to increase energy efficiency in production and processing operations, and a switch to green electricity.

To become climate-neutral by 2050, further reductions of indirect emissions are necessary. Therefore, Evonik is taking the next step here, too: absolute scope 3 emissions from all upstream categories and the category “downstream transportation and distribution” are to be reduced by 11.07 percent in the period 2021 to 2030. In addition to the scope 1-3 targets, Evonik is committed to significantly reducing further greenhouse gas emissions from energy-related business activities.

The SBTi defines and promotes best practice in science-based target setting and independently assesses and approves companies’ targets. It has thus become the internationally recognized standard when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for companies.

"Every investment toward lower greenhouse gas emissions, whether it is the expansion of more efficient production facilities or the transformation of our energy supply, is at the same time an investment in climate protection and safeguarding of our competitiveness in the long run. In doing so, we are clearly pursuing two goals: To significantly reduce our own climate footprint and to provide our customers with ever more efficient products and system solutions," says Wessel.

Evonik has integrated sustainability into all elements of its corporate strategy and is making it the central innovation driver. The company is making targeted investments in green growth: By 2030, for example, Evonik aims to increase the proportion of sales generated with Next Generation Solutions - products and solutions with superior sustainability benefits - from 43 percent at present to over 50 percent, investing around €3 billion. A further €700 million is earmarked for Next Generation Technologies, i.e. the transformation of production processes and infrastructure to reduce CO2 emissions.

For details of the validation, see the SBTi’s target dashboard: https://sciencebasedtargets.org/target-dashboard.