Climate change is a major challenge for our planet; it is caused by the steady accumulation of man-made greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO₂), in the Earth's atmosphere. That is why tackling climate change and being economical with energy, resources and materials are important issues of our time, and why both are firmly established in our corporate and sustainability strategies. Our focus is on reducing CO₂ emissions – for our customers and for ourselves.
When tracking emissions, we follow the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol for short), which is considered the most internationally recognised standard for tracking and accounting for greenhouse gas emissions. It categorises emissions into Scope 1 emissions (direct emissions), Scope 2 emissions (indirect emissions from procuring electricity and district heating) and Scope 3 emissions (other indirect emissions along the value chain).
Over the next few years, Festo will massively reduce its CO2 footprint. We have already made enormous progress in 2023 with regard to Scopes 1, 2 and 3.8: since 2024 – two years earlier than planned – the entire Festo Group has been CO2-compensated in Scope 1. Additionally, Festo plans to reduce Scope 1 emissions by around 30% by 2030 and be net-zero by 2040. In Scope 2 and 3.8, the Festo Group has been CO2 neutral since 2024.
We are also continuing to invest in energy efficiency measures and are expanding our photovoltaic (PV) systems. In 2023, PV systems were added at 20 additional sites. This has increased the total PV output at Festo by over 60 per cent and now amounts to 13.8 megawatts peak.
Festo calculates its Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF) across all three scopes of the GHG Protocol. Four categories – 3.10, 3.13, 3.14 and 3.15 – were identified as irrelevant for the CO2 footprint of Festo. These categories were therefore not taken into account.
The results can be found in the table entitled Greenhouse gas emissions 2024 (in tCO2eq). The calculation shows a clear result: 99 per cent of emissions are caused in categories 3.1, 3.4 and 3.11. A detailed list can be found in our Sustainability Report.
The Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions for 2023 are shown in the following two diagrams. The total energy demand and emissions for Scope 1 and 2 related to turnover can be seen in the figures below.
Our customers learn how to use a newly purchased product safely and professionally through a variety of user manuals and descriptions. Notes on possible misuse as well as information on maintenance, cleaning, care and disposal help the user to avoid expensive and climate-damaging costs. This also extends the service life of the products. Various tutorials clearly explain how users can, for example, replace spare parts kits on their own.