April 4th, 2022
One year after its initial announcement, BASF has reaffirmed its ambitious climate targets. In an update for investors and financial analysts on its transformation roadmap BASF confirmed that by 2030 it aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent compared with 2018 and is maintaining its goal of net zero emissions globally by 2050. On its path to reducing global emissions to 16.4-million metric tons by 2030, BASF is publishing an annual CO2 emissions forecast for BASF Group as part of its outlook with a corridor of plus or minus 0.5 million metric tons.
“There is a brutal war raging in Europe with far-reaching consequences for both people and the economy. Nevertheless, we must not lose sight of the greatest global challenge of our time – climate change,” said Dr. Martin Brudermüller, chairman of the board of executive directors of BASF SE. “Across BASF, we are working intensively to implement a large number of projects to further reduce our CO2 emissions significantly and achieve our ambitious climate targets. By cooperating with suppliers of raw materials we are also taking steps to reduce our product-related emissions. In this way, we are driving forward our transformation and supporting customers in their efforts to reduce emissions in their product portfolios.”
In 2021, BASF reduced CO2 emissions by around 3 percent compared with 2020 despite significantly higher production volumes. This was largely due to increased use of renewable energy. Switching power to renewable energy will be the main driver of emission reduction until 2025. In 2021, renewables accounted for 16 percent of BASF Group’s global power demand. By 2030, the company projects that 100 percent of its 2021 global power demand will be obtained from renewable sources.
To cover its demand for renewable energy, BASF is pursuing a make-and-buy strategy. This includes investing in own renewable power assets and purchasing green power from third parties. In 2021, BASF purchased a stake in Vattenfall’s wind farm Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ). Once fully operational, it will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm with a total installed capacity of 1.5 gigawatts. The project is expected to become fully operational in 2023. Furthermore, BASF has signed 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with ENGIE and Ørsted for the supply of significant amounts of renewable electricity from wind and solar power in Europe. In the United States, BASF has concluded long-term supply contracts for wind and solar power for its Freeport and Pasadena sites. In China, BASF has signed agreements with suppliers for the purchase of renewable power for its new Verbund site in Zhanjiang.
At its Investor Update event, BASF provided an overview of the various measures the company is implementing at different sites to reach its corporate climate targets. Such measures largely depend on the specific local conditions at each site.
