Heidelberg has redoubled its activities in sustainability management against the backdrop of the global challenges caused by climate change.
As part of its sustainability strategy, the company has made a commitment to become climate neutral by 2030.
To help achieve this goal, it has set up an Environmental Social Governance (ESG) panel, responsible for developing strategy and defining, implementing, and monitoring the associated measures.
The panel is headed by Dr. Eva Boll, who reports directly to the CEO.
“Heidelberg is well aware of its responsibilities regarding the dangers posed by global climate change and affirms the 1.5-degree target of the Paris Agreement,” Heidelberg CEO, Rainer Hundsdörfer said.
“For many years, we have been actively working to gradually minimize harmful emissions and reduce the health and environmental impact of our sites. We have now made a further commitment to ensuring our worldwide production and distribution sites are operating on a climate-neutral basis by 2030, which is earlier than required by legislation.”
To achieve this goal, Heidelberg has already defined several measures and started to roll them out. Initially, the focus is on increasing energy efficiency at all production and distribution sites and supplying these sites with green energy. This alone will lead to a clear reduction in CO2 emissions.
The company will then use emissions certificates to offset the residual, unavoidable emissions. Heidelberg subsequently aims to achieve complete climate neutrality at its sites without the use of emissions certificates by 2040 at the latest.
Heidelberg said it sees sustainability as a long-term balance between the environment, business, and social responsibility and is focusing on the areas of climate strategy, environmentally friendly products, sustainable HR management, compliance, and good governance.
“Heidelberg has made a commitment to sustainable HR management geared toward issues such as new work, demography management, inclusion and diversity, health management, and employer branding,” Heidelberg CFO and chief human resources officer Marcus A. Wassenberg said.
“After all, a growing number of financial market players are putting more emphasis on sustainability management as a key criterion for future investment decisions.”
Human rights issues and environmental considerations are also to be anchored throughout the entire value chain, which includes all the suppliers to the Heidelberg Group.
“Heidelberg takes a holistic view of sustainability management and factors in all aspects, such as climate and environmental protection with regard to the production and use of its products, and social criteria,” Dr. Boll mentioned.
“Over the coming weeks and months, we will be continuing to work step by step on the catalogue of criteria and planned measures. By the end of the current financial year, we will create a road map with interim targets for the years ahead. The environment, cost-efficiency, and social responsibility will all go hand in hand.”
Heidelberg also identified that the global trend toward climate and environmental protection and sustainability is also opening new growth opportunities for the business.
One example is the company’s activities in the field of electromobility – Heidelberg plans to gradually expand its portfolio in the fields of charging infrastructure and the smart home.
Furthermore, Heidelberg said it has extensive expertise in automation concepts and solutions for carbon-free production that can also be put to good use outside the graphic arts industry.
“The holistic approach adopted by Heidelberg in its sustainability management activities is not just an expression of our sense of responsibility. Thanks to the decarbonization solutions that are integral to this approach, it also opens up new growth opportunities for the company in a whole range of sectors, even outside our core business,” Hundsdörfer added.
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