Climate is precious to us
Our business activities result in carbon emissions at our company and along our value chain. We pledge to our responsibility by putting a high priority on a significant and timely reduction of our carbon footprint.
Targets and Key Figures
0.0 carbon emissions by 2025, Scope 1+2
We will be carbon-neutral for our own operations by 2025. This commitment includes reducing our energy consumption by 20% compared to base year 2019 and transitioning to 100% green electricity. Only the remaining emissions will be offset.
0.0 fossil fuels by 2033, Scope 1+2
We aim to reach net zero in our own operations by transitioning our processes to electricity or green hydrogen. Only residual emissions of less than 10% compared to base year 2019 will be offset.
-50% indirect carbon emissions by 2033, Scope 3
We will reduce carbon emissions along our value chain, for example by engaging with mining partners to actively support their decarbonization efforts and by increasing the proportion of recycled metals in our products.
“We have committed to an ambitious goal: being CO2 neutral by 2025 and net zero by 2033. We are seeing very good progress toward our sustainability targets, yet there is still a lot more to achieve. Sustainability is a true transformation project and needs to underlie everything we do.”
Svea Scherleithner
Global Head of Sustainability Heraeus Precious Metals
Our Decarbonization Roadmap
In 2021, we committed ourselves to the most ambitious climate program in the industry: carbon neutrality for our own operations by 2025 and net zero by 2033. In 2023, we additionally set ourselves the target of achieving a 50% reduction in emissions along our value chain by 2033.
Our Carbon Footprint
In 2023, we successfully reduced our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 25% compared to 2022. Since 2019, we reduced them by 41%, while growing our business by 47%.
In 2023, 96% of our Scope 3 emissions resulted from the purchase of precious metals. Compared to 2022, our Scope 3 emissions increased by 6%. This is mainly caused by an increase in purchased gold. We acknowledge that volatile and cyclic market demands, especially for gold, will continue to be a challenge. Yet, we are positive that we will reach our set targets with the measures planned.
