SBTi validates Evonik climate targets

The independent Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) has confirmed that Evonik’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets are in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. This seeks to limit global warming to well below 2°C.

The company presented its new sustainability strategy last year. It seeks to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 25% from 6.3 million tonnes CO2 equivalent in 2021 to 4.7 million in 2030. Three building blocks will be used, each contributing roughly equally: the commissioning of the new gas and steam turbine power plant to replace the existing coal-fired power plant in Marl; focused initiatives to increase energy efficiency in production and processing operations; and a general switch to green electricity.

Evonik is aiming to revalidate its targets in the near future “so that it can also support a path that limits warming to 1.5°C by 2050” and be climate-neutral itself. This requires reductions in indirect emissions, so the company is also committing to reduce absolute Scope 3 emissions from all upstream categories and the “downstream transportation and distribution” category by 11.07% from 2021 to 2030.