Electricity generation accounts for a large share of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Electricity produced from renewable energy sources, such as solar energy, wind energy, or hydropower, can greatly reduce these emissions. Beiersdorf has therefore also committed itself to shifting purchased electricity to renewable energy sources. Accordingly, we supply all Beiersdorf affiliates worldwide with green electricity. This includes not only office buildings, but also the 15 production sites in particular. However, in some countries the direct and unambiguous procurement of electricity from renewable energy sources is not yet possible, or is only possible on a pro rata basis. For these sites, we acquire so-called “International Renewable Energy Certificates” (I-RECs) when purchasing electricity. These certificates are a accounting tool that certify the production of a MWh of green electricity together with factual characteristics (how, where and when the electricity was produced). On the one hand, this enables us to ensure that our affected sites are supplied with electricity from renewable energy sources. On the other, we can transparently demonstrate that the units of electricity purchased were allocated only to us and may not have been sold multiple times.
As well as purchasing 100% green electricity, we have installed photovoltaic systems at twelve of our production and office sites, through which we cover part of our electricity requirements ourselves. In the reporting year, these systems produced 3,799 MWh of electricity worldwide. Our production sites hold the potential to further reduce energy-related emissions and increase energy efficiency. The initiative “Sustainability in Manufacturing” was created in 2020 and builds among others on the minimum requirements laid out in our standard operating procedure for energy management: It includes all 15 production sites worldwide and is intended to support the achievement of targets in the areas of climate, waste, and water.