VEKA Group commits to net zero target by 2045

The VEKA Group with its two system providers VEKA and GEALAN has set itself the clear goal of climate neutrality. By 2045, the group of companies based in Sendenhorst, aims to operate in a climate-neutral manner across the entire value chain at all locations and across all scopes.

The economic activities of the VEKA Group are targeted towards sustainability in the sense of a corporate management that keeps future generations in mind. Both the external requirements on the topic of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as well as the internal motivation as a company to act in a future-friendly way are key factors for the establishment of our own CSR management - also in order to fulfil our reporting obligations as an international family business in the future.

To limit global warming to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels, almost all countries of the world agreed to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050 as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The German government is going one step further and anchors the goal of greenhouse gas neutrality for Germany by 2045. "We as a company also want to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045. Since the construction sector is one of the most emission- and resource-intensive industries, we can now actively contribute to achieving the global climate protection goals," explains Andreas Hartleif, CEO of the VEKA Group.

CSR as a strategic initiative

VEKA has set the course for the future with its strategy 2025: CSR is one of the five initiatives for achieving the company's goals. It defines corporate responsibility towards the environment, society and employees. „In 2020, we incorporated the topic of sustainability into our organization by founding the department 'Strategy & CSR'. In this context, we developed the first CSR strategy for the VEKA Group. The goals are to establish an internal CSR organization and to create the necessary transparency for the definition of reduction targets", explains Dr Matthias Koch, Head of Strategy & CSR.

Certified greenhouse gas balance for 2021

In 2022, the VEKA Group completed its first certified greenhouse gas balance covering Scope 1 and 2 as well as Scope 3.3 for the 2021 financial year. The balance certified by DEKRA serves as the basis for the now defined goal of climate neutrality. "Only through measurement and calculation we can determine reliable key figures, which allow us to record the effects of our actions accurately. With the certified greenhouse gas balance, we have now recorded a first part of our emissions. We are currently working intensively on the recording of Scope 3," summarizes David Beckers, Manager Sustainability/ CSR at the VEKA Group.

Overall, data and key figures from all divisions and companies must be recorded. For the VEKA Group, this includes around nine divisions and 46 locations on four continents. Up to now, much of the organization in the group has been decentralized, and the consolidation of the globally recorded key figures has proven to be very time-consuming and complex in some cases. The process is currently being improved continuously and the company is working on faster data processing. Where necessary, VEKA validates the recorded data and processes externally, as the recent greenhouse gas balance demonstrates.

Going into the future responsibly

Even if the effects across all three scopes have not yet been finalized, the goal is clear: in 2045, the VEKA Group aims to operate in a climate-neutral manner across all three scopes. Until then, VEKA will report regularly on CSR activities. On the one hand, to show progress and interim results, and on the other hand, to give the topic the necessary attention. In this context, the third edition of the CSR booklet "Future-friendly" will be published this year.

Read more about VEKA Group's understanding of sustainability and commitment:

learn more