These companies could help to reach the 1.5 degree target

Global Transition Award Winner

This year, five companies were honored with the prize for their ambitions in climate protection.

(Photo: Uta Wagner for Handelsblatt)

Dusseldorf The starting point is bad: the 1.5-degree target that the countries of the world set themselves in the Paris climate agreement is getting further and further into the distance. This week, the UN Climate Change Secretariat released a study that says the world is projected to warm by 2.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels because current emission control measures are not enough. After all, according to the report, there are “glimmers of hope”.

Per Espen Stoknes is more optimistic – but also more demanding: “We can only achieve system change as a system,” said the director of the Center for Green Growth at the Norwegian Business School and co-author of the book “Earth for all – A survival guide to humanity”.

In an interview on the occasion of the presentation of the Global Transition Awards, which the Handelsblatt presents together with its partners Capgemini, Techem and Right, he explained: “For a long time, the economy was about work efficiency – but in order to stop climate change, we now need more resource efficiency.”

Stoknes demands: Two to five percent of global GDP should flow into green investments. The production of renewable energies must be tripled. “This crisis is also an incredible opportunity,” said the scientist.

Top jobs of the day

Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.

Using the climate crisis as an opportunity: Hannah Helmeke, founder and CEO of the start-up “Right”, which advises companies on their climate strategies, also knows that this works. But this requires a lot: new business models, innovative production methods, lively discussions and above all: the will to change.

Per Espen Stoknes

“We can only achieve a system change as a system,” says the scientist and author.

(Photo: Uta Wagner for Handelsblatt)

Helmeke says: “We have to talk about the way and about the people who make the decisions instead of just discussing the status quo.” She attaches great importance to taking a holistic view of measures. The carbon footprint alone cannot be a benchmark for evaluating sustainability efforts. For example, they would also have to be implemented in the remuneration system in the long term.

This year, five companies that have taken this path were honored with the Global Transition Award. “Their strategies are credible, science-based and actionable,” says the “Right” CEO of the award winners. The point here is explicitly not that the companies have already successfully implemented all measures, but that they have seriously and consistently taken the right path.

The awards are based on analysis using the X-Degree Compatibility model. The company “Right” evaluates individual companies on the basis of emission data and financial performance and checks whether they are acting as role models: “If all companies in the world acted like this, we could then achieve the 1.5 degree target reach?” Helmeke summarizes.

The three core criteria of the award

  • Credibility: How plausible are the company’s climate targets – and what is the motivation behind them?

  • Implementation: How are the goals anchored in the company’s processes?

  • Feasibility: How realistic are the company’s ambitions – and how can they contribute to climate protection?

These are the award winners:

Lokay

The company Lokay from Reinheim near Darmstadt is committed to the environmentally friendly printing trade. Recycled paper and ecological colors for a sustainable world – Lokay convinces with concrete measures and goals, says Daniela Weber-Rey in her laudatory speech.

A certain key figure convinced the jury: “The company has managed to reduce its operational emissions by 90 percent within 15 years.” One of the print shop’s approaches is mobility. There is an internal initiative to motivate employees to cycle to work.

La Biosthetique

The cosmetics manufacturer La Biosthétique Paris tackles climate protection where its products are used: in the partner salons. “Product use makes up more than 60 percent of our footprint,” says Managing Director Christian Ader. “Therefore, we have little choice but to cooperate directly with the salon partners and show them the important levers: hot water, towels and lighting. So everyday things.”

contra

“In terms of climate protection, logistics is challenged like no other industry,” says Felicitas Graeber from Capgemini Invent in her laudatory speech for the transport service provider Contargo. “At the same time, no other industry can benefit from innovations,” states Graeber. “The backbone of our economy is facing a Herculean task.”

Contargo offers logistics by ship, truck and train – the so-called trimodal route. The company advertises above all with its sustainability strategies, which go deep to the roots of the company. For example, Contargo’s trainees develop concepts that are intended to contribute to a better climate balance in freight transport.

GLS bank

“The energy transition will not come for free,” says Matthias Hartmann, CEO of the Techem Group. The financing role of the banks plays a key role in climate protection – because the 1.5 degree target can only be achieved through climate-friendly portfolios and adapted processes.

GLS Bank, based in Bochum, is driving green banking in Germany. The bank relies on sustainable investments and future-proof business models. GLS Bank evaluates real estate, among other things, with a specially developed tool, the “nWert”. This is to determine the sustainability of buildings.

Special award for Rolls-Royce Power Systems

In the “High Potentials” category, Rolls-Royce Power Systems received the “Global Transition Award”. The “more than 110-year fossil success story” is countered by the will to bring the motor industry on a climate-friendly path, explains laudator Matthias Hartmann. By 2030, the company wants to reduce its emissions by 35 percent compared to 2019 – and even be climate-neutral from 2050. The conclusion of the jury: “These goals are credibly integrated into the corporate structures.”

The jury

The jury consisted of six experts from different industries. They selected the five award-winning companies on the basis of the analyzes prepared by “Right”. On the jury were:

  • Donya Amer, board member of Hapag-Lloyd AG

  • Felizitas Graeber, Managing Director at Capgemini Invent Germany

  • Matthias Hartmann, CEO of the Techem Group

  • Johannes Koch, Head of Strategy and Group Development at DZ Bank

  • Simone Menne, member of the supervisory board and financial expert

  • Melissa Ott, Director of the start-up platform “Futury”

  • the lawyer and member of the supervisory board Daniela Weber-Rey

  • and Handelsblatt Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Matthes.

More: Industry wants to promote climate protection even in the energy crisis

source site-11