Everyone is talking about climate protection – but why?

The Earth's climate is essential for the development of nature and human life, and influences people's social and economic behavior.

In recent decades, the climate has changed significantly more than in the decades before – this has a strong impact on the entire system.

The reason for this are greenhouse gases – first and foremost carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon dioxide is primarily released by burning fossil fuels to generate electricity and heat.

As a result of rising CO2 emissions, the average temperature on Earth has risen by 1.2 degrees Celsius since the middle of the 19th century.

This global warming is causing sea ice to melt and sea levels to rise. This, in turn, causes extreme weather events, threats to wildlife and human health, and social and economic costs.

It is still possible to slow climate change and limit its impacts. Success in reducing emissions depends to a large extent on voluntary and consistent action by industry in the industrialized countries. In this way, we are also prepared to take responsibility for the world we leave to descendants.

SBI/WBI: Climate-neutral company

For this reason, it was important for us to get an overview of our greenhouse gas emissions. Together with Fokus Zukunft GmbH & Co. KG, we determined the climate impact of our company: Our footprint is approximately 351 tons of CO2 equivalent pollutants for the year 2022.

To put this into perspective: On average, 40 people in Germany cause approximately the same amount of emissions per year.

To compensate for the CO2 emissions caused, we have purchased 351 climate protection certificates. With these certificates we support the following project:

• Chile: Energetic use of the residues of a pulp mill

Greenhouse gases are distributed evenly throughout the atmosphere. It therefore makes sense to avoid emissions where the costs are lowest. In addition, projects in emerging and developing countries help to improve the economic, social and ecological situation and support the realization of the United Nations' sustainable development goals. For emerging and developing countries, emissions trading is a key driver for the transfer of clean technologies and sustainable economic development.

Based on the determined values and the purchase of a corresponding amount of climate certificates, our company was declared as climate-neutral.

We have thus received the "climate-neutral company" award for the compensation of our greenhouse gases.

This makes our company one of the first in our industry to voluntarily compensate its emissions according to the "Clean Development Mechanism".