Our approach to sustainable business
Sustainability is one of our core values and is integrated in everything we do. We strive to lead our industry by pioneering a world of possibilities to empower people and reduce our impact on the planet, while consistently innovating to deliver the most sustainable solutions for our customers. That’s why we call our approach to sustainable business “People. Planet. Paint.”
People: We act with integrity and respect human rights across our operations and value chain, embracing diversity and inclusion, to transform the communities in which we operate.
Planet: We minimize our environmental footprint, reducing carbon emissions and moving towards zero waste by pioneering increasingly sustainable solutions and processes.
Paint: We constantly innovate to bring surfaces to life by offering our customers the most sustainable solutions that go beyond generations.
People: We act with integrity and respect human rights across our operations and value chain, embracing diversity and inclusion, to transform the communities in which we operate.
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Planet: We minimize our environmental footprint, reducing carbon emissions and moving towards zero waste by pioneering increasingly sustainable solutions and processes.
Paint: We constantly innovate to bring surfaces to life by offering our customers the most sustainable solutions that go beyond generations.
People
- Top quartile in organizational health score: see Note 1 of the Sustainability statements
- >30% female executive by 2025: see Note 1 of the Sustainability statements
- >1,000 projects to help revitalize communities between 2020 and 2025: see Note 3 of the Sustainability statements
- 35,000 members of local communities trained between 2020 and 2025: see Note 3 of the Sustainability statements
- Zero injuries and harm through operational excellence: see Note 2 of the Sustainability statements
2020 performance
Organizational health score: 69
Female executives: 21%
+ Safety (TRR)* 0.23
+ Community projects 170
+ Community members trained 2,669
* Number includes AkzoNobel employees and temporary workers
Planet
- Moving towards zero waste: see Note 6 of the Sustainability statements
- 50% less carbon emissions by 2030*: see Note 5 of the Sustainability statements
- 100% renewable electricity by 2030: see Note 5 of the Sustainability statements
- >30% energy reduction by 2030: see Note 5 of the Sustainability statements
- 100% reusable waste by 2030: see Note 6 of the Sustainability statements
- 100% of our most water intensive sites reusing water by 2030: see Note 6 of the Sustainability statements
2020 performance
++ Carbon reduction*: 19%
++ Renewable electricity: 40%
+ Energy reduction*: 4%
++ Waste reuse: 58%
* Reduction compared with 2018 baseline
Paint
- >50% of revenue from sustainable solutions by 2030: see Note 8 of the Sustainability statements
- 50% recycled content to be used in its plastic packaging by Deco Europe by 2025: see the section Paint of the Sustainability statements
2020 performance
+ Sustainable solutions: 40%
++ Ahead of schedule
+ On schedule
Our approach to sustainable business is also designed to contribute to the global agenda represented by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We believe our products and ongoing innovation can have the biggest impact on the following goals:
The external recognition we continue to receive indicates that we’re on the right track. We’ve been actively participating in several assessments for many years, with some of our main achievements and rankings outlined below:
Sustainalytics |
We’re considered a “low risk” company, which is the best performance level in the chemical industry |
|---|---|
MSCI |
We’ve received the highest possible rating (AAA) for five consecutive years |
FTSE4Good |
We’ve maintained our score and have been well above the industry average for five consecutive years |
EcoVadis |
We were awarded a Platinum rating in the latest review, placing us in the top 1% in the industry |
ISS Oekom |
We received a score of B- as of April 2020, which makes us part of the top 10% in the industry |
ChemScore |
We’re the highest ranked paints and coatings company – and in third place overall. AkzoNobel was also one of only four companies to receive a special mention for being “ahead of the rest” when it comes to green chemistry and the development of safer chemicals |
Collaborations
We’re aware that we can’t drive the sustainability agenda by ourselves. So we seek out collaborations, for example by being an active member of various associations and organizations.
World Green Building Council
On a global level, we’re a member of the WGBC’s Corporate Advisory Board (CAB). We’re also a member of various local Green Building Councils (GBCs), for example in South East Asia and the Middle East.
United Nations Global Compact
We’ve been a signatory of the UN Global Compact since 2004 and communicate about our progress on an annual basis. We’re also a signatory to the Responsible Care® Global Charter and the CEO Water Mandate. As a member of the UN Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead in Paint, we were the first major paint company to eliminate lead pigments and driers in all our paint products and continue to do so when we acquire new companies.
Together for Sustainability
As a Together for Sustainability (TfS) member, we contribute to its development, growth and success, for example by actively participating in workstreams and decision-making bodies. We’ve been part of the third party audit workstream for many years and now contribute to the new greenhouse gas Scope 3 workstream, where we use the leverage of the industry initiative to create awareness and reach suppliers on a larger scale.
RE100
Since 2017, we’ve been a member of the RE100 (a Climate Group initiative), which aims to move towards 100% renewable energy. We report the progress on our RE100 target annually, which in turn is published in their annual report as part of an overview of progress by all members.
Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition
We’re part of a broad coalition of Dutch companies to continue focusing on sustainability while using the UN SDGs as a guiding compass to define and measure our efforts. This will not only help us to mitigate climate risks, but will also enable us to create a more resilient economy and a more inclusive society. We endorse a strong focus on sustainability – such as the EU Green Deal – as one of the cornerstones of the COVID-19 recovery plan, while continuing to provide long-term certainty regarding the Dutch climate agreement and measurable commitments.
Greenhouse gases include CO2, CO, CH4, N2O and HFCs, which have a global warming impact. We also include the impact of VOCs in our targets.