Targets

Greenhouse gas targets

WACKER is firmly committed to the Paris Agreement. Our voluntary targets to cut greenhouse gases are science-based ones (business ambition of 1.5 °C) consistent with the “1.5 °C” target set out in the Paris Agreement. Not only the targets for 2030 but also our aim of achieving net zero by 2045 have been validated by the independent Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Targets include biogenic emissions from land use and biomass.

An increase in GHG emissions due to growth and future market trends was taken into account when the target was set. To be compliant with the SBTi, significant changes (> 5 percent), for example due to acquisitions, require a recalculation of the basic target value. Scope 3 emissions were recalculated in 2025. Previously, the impact of methane losses during the extraction and transportation of natural gas and crude oil had not been included in the upstream chain for these substances and the raw materials produced from them.

This methane leakage has now been included in the calculation of Scope 3, categories 1 and 3, for the first time. Accordingly, emissions in these categories were recalculated for the 2020 base year, for 2024 and for the target year, 2030, increasing the corresponding values.

In addition, the Scope 1 and 2 targets were also reviewed with regard to the San Diego, Allentown (WSMI), Panagarh and Jining sites, which were added in 2020. As emissions from these new sites make up approximately 1 percent of the Group’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2020, there was no need to adjust the Scope 1 and 2 target. The basic target value did not change in the year under review since there was no significant change to the greenhouse gas inventory or calculation method.

Medium-term Group target: 50-percent reduction in absolute greenhouse gas emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) by 2030

On our journey to net zero, we are striving to cut absolute greenhouse gas emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) within the Group to half of our 2020 value by 2030. The target includes 100 percent of Scope 1 and 2 emissions (market-based). The target cannot be broken down into Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions due to the large number of production processes and potential portfolio shifts.

Medium-term Group target: 25-percent reduction in absolute greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 3, cat. 1 and 3) by 2030

WACKER is also committed to reducing its absolute greenhouse gas emissions from purchased goods and services, as well as fuel- and energy-related activities (Scope 3, categories 1 and 3), by 25 percent between 2020 and 2030. In line with SBTi requirements, 87 percent of category 1 emissions and 75 percent of category 3 emissions have been included for the purposes of the target.

Long-term Group target: Net zero by 2045

In line with the SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard, WACKER has undertaken to cut its absolute greenhouse gas emissions (benchmark value: 100 percent Scope 1 and 2 emissions, market-based) by 95 percent by 2045 compared with 2020. Furthermore, WACKER has undertaken to cut its absolute greenhouse gas emissions (benchmark value: 100 percent Scope 3 emissions) in the same period by 90 percent. It will then neutralize any remaining emissions to achieve net zero.

Target achievement status

The WACKER Group’s greenhouse gas emissions (Scopes 1 – 3) are calculated on a yearly basis and the results then compared with the yearly targets specified in our SBTi target setting.

The target setting of the GHG reduction targets for Scopes 1 and 2 and for Scope 3 in the year under review and compared with the previous year are presented in the following table.

Scope 1 and 2 reduction target

During the year under review, emissions were down 43 percent, so that reductions in emissions were well above the linear trajectory that had been mapped out for a 25-percent reduction in 2025 relative to 2020. The sharp decline is mainly due to a volume effect, i.e. a low plant-utilization rate. Efficiency measures also made a contribution to the trend.

Scope 3 (Cat. 1 and 3) reduction target

In the reporting year, we achieved a 14-percent reduction in emissions, which is significantly lower than in the previous year. With a reduction of a good 30 percent, we are also well below the linear trajectory that had been mapped out for a 12.5-percent reduction in 2025 relative to 2020.

We attribute the significant reduction compared to 2020 to a number of factors, including declining quantities of raw materials, changes in the raw material mix, the purchase of raw materials with a lower carbon footprint, and a lower-carbon electricity mix compared to the base year. We do not yet rate the substantial reduction as against the base year as a final target achievement, because this particular year was not representative in terms of the quantities procured.

Energy target

As an energy-intensive company, efficient use of energy is a top priority for us. Such use is also indirectly tied to the release of greenhouse gases.

We set ourselves a new energy target in the reporting year. The previous target for specific energy consumption (energy volume per net production output) was heavily influenced by portfolio shifts, making effective target control much more difficult. In order to reflect the Group’s shift in focus, away from pure volume business toward specialty business, we have revised our previous energy efficiency target.

Medium-term Group target: Energy saving through energy-efficiency measures

In order to further increase the Group’s energy efficiency, we have set ourselves a new voluntary target:

we are aiming to use energy-efficiency measures to save an average of 1.5 percent of our annual energy consumption between 2020 and 2030. The reference year is always the current reporting year. Although the target is not science-based and was defined without involving external stakeholders, aspects related to technical feasibility, cost-effectiveness and close alignment with our GHG reduction targets formed the basis for setting the target.

The annual target achievement is calculated based on the total energy savings from the individual energy-efficiency measures implemented in the year concerned. The savings associated with each measure are calculated by comparing the energy consumption of the relevant systems before and after the measure was implemented. The benchmark value (denominator) is the total standardized energy consumption of the production sites in the fiscal year concerned, which accounts for approximately 90 percent of the WACKER Group’s total energy consumption, and the total energy savings achieved by implementing the energy-efficiency measures (numerator).

To determine the average target achievement, we add up the annual results, expressed as a percentage, and divide this by the number of years since the base year.

Energy-efficiency measures help us manage our absolute energy consumption, which is influenced by other factors, such as volume or portfolio effects, plant expansion measures or dismantling, and changes in energy sources. We report on the development of our absolute energy consumption in the chapter “Energy consumption and mix.”

To facilitate monitoring of the metric up until the target year, we add up the results to form a percentage for each year and compare it against a calculated target value of 15 percent in the target year – over ten years in annual increments of 1.5 percent.

Group target: Energy saving through energy efficiency measures

In the reporting year, the average annual energy savings achieved through the energy-efficiency measures implemented since 2020 came to 1.7 percent (2024: 1.6 percent), exceeding the target of 1.5 percent.