The ascending arrows on the title of the Sustainability Report 2022 symbolize the range of measures and activities that have been implemented in the past year with the aim of achieving climate-neutral production in Scope 1 and 2. The basis for this is the global climate strategy "Sustainability@CHIRON Group". Thus, explains CEO Carsten Liske, "we are making sustainability a strategic factor in our business model, for us and our customers. We are building on this and consistently moving forward – for a carbon-neutral and, not least, therefore sustainably successful CHIRON Group".

The key topics of the current report are the progress made of the reduction measures in Scope 1 and 2 as well as the publication of the emissions balance with a focus on Scope 3, the indirect emissions in the value chain. In addition, the Sustainability Report 2022 documents the diverse activities of the international locations of the CHIRON Group to fulfill their social, economic and entrepreneurial responsibility.

Climate-neutral production (Scope 1 and 2) in Germany since the end of 2022

With the reduction measures initiated in the year under review, the CHIRON Group was able to more than halve its CO2 emissions from 6,523 t to 3,046 t CO2 despite a slight increase in energy demand worldwide. By the end of 2022, the company thus achieved an important partial goal on the way to a neutral CO2 footprint in the global production network: carbon-neutral production in Scope 1 and 2 in Germany. This zero balance was reached through energy efficiency measures, investments in photovoltaic systems, for example on the roof of the Precision Factory in Neuhausen ob Eck, through the purchase of green electricity and green gas as well as compensation measures for emissions that cannot be avoided in the short term.

Vice versa, the decline in emissions underscores the claim made by CEO Carsten Liske in the report’s foreword: "We are decoupling our growth and the associated expansion of our capacities from our CO2 emissions". Here are the next steps: In 2023, the photovoltaic system of the Taicang Innovation Factory in China will go into operation, and the sites in Croatia and Italy will also produce green electricity in the future. Other sites around the world are being examined with a view to producing their own green electricity.

Scope 3 – huge impact on achieving climate targets

"Scope 3 is many times larger than Scope 1 and Scope 2. These indirect emissions in the value chain have an enormous impact on achieving our climate targets," says Benjamin Kurth. That's why the cross-functional and cross-departmental core team, led by the Global Program Manager Sustainability, analyzed and evaluated all areas.

This created maximum transparency to develop and implement further measures to achieve the 1.5° target of the Paris Climate Agreement by 2030. The goal is to reduce emissions by 25 percent from the 2018 baseline by the deadline. For example, through technical optimizations that enable customers of the CHIRON Group to operate their machining centers at lower electricity costs and reduced CO2 emissions.

An ever stronger global alliance for sustainable success

Strengthening global business in the short and long term is a topic that the CHIRON Group continued to intensively pursue as part of its growth strategy in the reporting year 2022. With new service and sales branches and subsidiaries as well as the expansion of existing locations, the common goal is to become an ever stronger group worldwide – and also to assume social, ecological, and economic responsibility for the individual employees and for society as a whole.

In the year under review, for example, the sites in China expanded their healthcare offerings, and in the USA the next generation of employees is being trained to German standards in four-year programs to prepare them for future tasks. Isérables in Switzerland uses only green electricity from local hydropower, and the team in India has planted 150 fruit trees near the site.

In addition to the points mentioned above, the CHIRON Group provides detailed information on its strategy and ongoing activities in all relevant areas in the Sustainability Report 2022: Further development of the product portfolio, responsibility for employees and society, quality, supply chain and resource management as well as energy consumption and carbon footprint. "With our report we are providing convincing proof that sustainable action is not only of great importance for maintaining our economic performance, but is firmly anchored in our DNA," says CEO Carsten Liske.