Sustainable Investment
We accept responsibility for our businesses, our employees, the environment and society.
Evonik is convinced that sustainable and responsible business practices are of crucial importance for the future of the company. We have comprehensively integrated sustainability into our Group strategy – from research and development to portfolio management and corporate culture. The core process is the sustainability analysis of our businesses. We already generate 43 percent of our sales with products and solutions that are characterized by a distinctive, positive sustainability profile. By 2030, we want to increase the share of sales generated by these next-generation solutions to over 50 percent.
Evonik is committed to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. We underline this with our commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Between 2021 and 2030, we aim to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 25 percent. We have committed to an 11 percent reduction in our Scope 3 emissions. In 2023, SBTi successfully validated the emission reduction targets submitted by Evonik. SBTi confirmed that the level of ambition of the Scope 1 and Scope 2 targets is suitable for helping to reduce global warming to well below 2°C.
Evonik supports the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and takes a close look at its own contributions. We have identified the four most important SDGs for our Group on which we have a particular focus (SDG 3, SDG 6, SDG 12, SDG 13).
We bundle our contributions to achieving the SDGs in four Sustainability Focus Areas: Fight Climate Change, Drive Circularity, Safeguard Ecosystems and Ensure Health & Wellbeing. For each of these areas, we show how Evonik is reducing its own ecological footprint and what kind of handprint the application of our products and solutions means in their respective markets.
We systematically examine the positive and negative impacts of our business activities along the value chain (inside-out) as well as the external influences on Evonik (outside-in). Identifying future opportunities and risks at an early stage increases the resilience of our business model and sharpens our understanding of the long-term social value contribution of our activities.
We meet our demand for transparency by continuously improving our sustainability reporting. Our strategic and operational progress towards greater sustainability is noticed and appreciated by the capital market. Evonik is established at the top of renowned sustainability ratings and rankings. In 2022, we successfully placed our second green bond.
Overall responsibility for sustainability at Evonik lies with the Executive Board. The responsible member of the Board of Management is the Chief Human Resources Officer, who is also responsible for all climate-related aspects. The Sustainability function sets the strategic framework for sustainability in the Group and coordinates Group-wide implementation in close cooperation with other Group functions and the operating segments. In view of the increasing relevance of sustainability in the management of the company, we have anchored sustainability more firmly in the remuneration of the Board of Management and management.
Evonik has integrated sustainability into its strategic management process. You can find out more about the elements of our sustainability strategy here:
For the strategic management and further development of our portfolio, our sustainability analysis of the businesses is the decisive instrument.
In determining the Group-relevant SDGs, both business-specific factors and the views of different stakeholder groups were taken into account.
Would you like to learn more about Evonik's carbon footprint? You can download our latest publication here.
Want to know more? You can download our current Sustainability Report here.
Would you like to learn more about the Capital Markets Day? You can download our current data set here.