Commitment to UN climate goals tesa joins the global climate initiative "Business Ambition for 1.5° C"

Jun 17, 2020

In 2019, the CO₂ levels and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere rose to new record heights. To counter this trend, we must act – right now. In line with their self-imposed targets for sustainable development, the Beiersdorf Group with the business segments Consumer and tesa have therefore endorsed the initiative "Business Ambition for 1.5° C".

"By signing this agreement, we've committed to aligning our business activities to limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5° C and to implementing measures that are suitable for this purpose," explains Angela Cackovich, Board Member for Direct Industries at tesa SE. Just under 200 leading companies worldwide have signed the commitment to "Business Ambition for 1.5⁰ C". The corporate goals were reviewed by the "Science Based Targets Initiative" (SBTi) – a partnership between CDP (formerly, Carbon Disclosure Project), UN Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI), and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – and approved in May 2020, as the initiative announced today. "tesa and Beiersdorf Consumer are now members of this group of companies in order to achieve these truly ambitious goals. Climate protection is a top priority for our company, for our employees, and for our customers," says executive board member Cackovich, who is responsible for the tesa Group's comprehensive sustainability agenda.

There is no question that companies committed to ambitious climate goals remain on the road to success, because the focus on what is essential – and this includes effective sustainability strategies more than ever – is rewarded by the market. "Companies that don't continuously develop and improve their efforts in this regard are at risk of being rated lower and, especially in the automotive or electronics industry, will soon no longer be considered for projects," said Angela Cackovich.

The achievement of tesa's climate targets relates to the company's own generation and procurement of energy that is required for production and administrative areas. The 2025 target of the internationally operating adhesive tape group is to reduce CO₂ emissions in absolute terms by 30% compared to 2018. By 2050, tesa wants to operate fully emission-free.

60.000 tons less CO₂ emissions since 2015

In recent years, many measures to increase energy efficiency and to reduce CO₂ emissions have already been taken at tesa. The specific CO₂ emissions per ton of end product in 2019 decreased by 34.5% compared to 2015. The cut of almost 60,000 tons of CO₂ in the past four years despite increasing sales is mainly due to specific energy efficiency measures and the use of green electricity in the tesa production facilities. At present, 27% of our electricity comes from renewable sources and 38% is efficiently produced by CHP (combined heat and power): Thus, today only 35% of our electricity comes from conventional sources. This value is to be significantly reduced in the medium term, for example, by increasing the use of green electricity as well as additional investments in CHP and solar energy systems at selected locations.

Millions invested in sustainability

In order to anchor sustainability in the core processes, as part of the corporate strategy 'newhorizon' tesa launched a Sustainability Agenda with seven focal points. "With this agenda, we want to ensure that there will be no net emissions in 2050," says Michael Lang, Director of Corporate Sustainability and Quality Management. In the coming years, we will strive to reduce the CO₂ footprint, particularly of products, purchased goods, and logistics processes. Business travel habits will also change, not least due to the positive experience with video conferences in recent weeks. Remaining emissions that cannot be reduced by 2050 are to be compensated for by a voluntary CO₂ compensation program. All in all, tesa aims to be climate neutral by 2050 in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement. To this end, by 2025, a seven-digit Euro amount will be invested in corporate climate protection measures and targets.

A coordinated approach by Beiersdorf Consumer and tesa

With their commitment to the initiative 'Business Ambition for 1.5° C', for the first time tesa stands shoulder to shoulder with Beiersdorf Consumer in a core area of their sustainability strategies. This proves that, in spite of different challenges, the sustainability efforts of the group and its affiliates will be aligned and coordinated more extensively in the coming years. By joining the 'Business Ambition for 1.5° C', tesa is reaffirming our ambitions to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) formulated by the UN and to play a pioneering role in terms of climate goals.