Climate change is the greatest challenge of the 21st century. Swift and resolute action is needed to achieve the targets agreed in the Paris Climate Agreement. We stand by this responsibility. In many areas, products and innovations based on chemistry are the key to a climate-neutral future – from insulation foams for energy-efficient buildings, lightweight construction components and battery materials for electromobility to more sustainable agriculture.
We expanded our climate protection targets: By 2050, we want to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions for our production (Scope 1), our energy purchases (Scope 2)1 and our purchase of raw materials (Scope 3.1). We have set ourselves ambitious milestones on this path: By 2030, we want to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 25% compared with 2018 – while growing production volumes in parallel. Compared with 1990, this translates into a reduction of around 60%. As we become increasingly transparent about our upstream emissions and want to offer more products with a low carbon footprint to our customers, we have set ourselves another intermediate target: We aim to reduce our raw materials-related emissions specifically by 15% by 2030 from the 2022 baseline.2
Our priorities are clear: Growing profitably and making BASF climate-neutral.
To achieve our climate protection targets, we are focusing on the following measures: Our electricity needs are increasingly covered using renewable energy. We are developing emission-free and low-emission production processes, building on lower-emission steam generation and improving the energy and process efficiency of our plants (carbon abatement). We are also increasingly using renewable, recycled and CO2-based raw materials in order to close material cycles (circularity). To reduce our raw materials-related emissions, we are working with our suppliers.
We want to help shape the transformation towards climate neutrality in a socially just way (just transition). This requires a political and regulatory environment that promotes innovation in climate protection, makes it possible to develop new processes that are competitive internationally and resolutely drives forward the expansion of renewable energies. Our electricity requirements from renewable sources will increase significantly due to new, lower-emission production processes. To meet this demand, we are investing in our own power assets (wind farms and solar power plants) and are increasingly buying green electricity on the market (make & buy approach). We are also addressing the question of how climate change affects our sites and implementing climate resilience measures.
2030 targets
–25%
Reduction in our absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions1 compared with 2018
–15%
Reduction in our specific Scope 3.1 greenhouse gas emissions2 compared with 2022
2050 target
Net-zero
Greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 (Scope 1, 21 and 3.1)
1 Scope 1 and Scope 2 (excluding the sale of energy to third parties). Greenhouse gases are converted into CO2 equivalents (CO2e) in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
2 Scope 3.1, raw materials excluding battery materials, services and technical goods, excluding greenhouse gas emissions from BASF trading business. Future adjustment of the baseline in line with the TfS guideline possible depending on the availability of further primary data.