What does a company that aims to use 100% renewable energy in its production around the world as fast as 2030 look like? Henkel, a German multinational that produces everything from adhesives used in cars and aeroplanes to consumer products such as Persil and Schwarzkopf, is attempting to answer that question. It’s ambitious. And to limit global warming to 1.5C by 2050, ambition like this is certainly needed.
“Science is telling us very clearly that we have a climate emergency on our hands and that we need to drastically reduce carbon emissions,” says Ulrike Sapiro, chief sustainability officer at Henkel. She adds that the company is already seeing the impact of the climate crisis across its value chain through extreme weather events. At the same time, she notes Henkel is part of a sector with a large carbon footprint. “Our industry has fossil-heavy aspects in terms of its material inputs for production – we know we play an important role in tackling their impacts on the climate.”
