VAUDE CSR-Report – VAUDE sets itself an ambitious goal: climate-neutral production throughout its global supply chain

VAUDE is one of some 680 companies worldwide and 29 companies in Germany that have joined the Science Based Targets (SBT) initiative. This international initiative is committed to ensuring that the corporate sector contributes to the climate targets adopted in Paris. Companies voluntarily commit themselves to science-based climate targets that are in line with the requirements of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C or well below 2 °C.

»In order to counteract the climate change that is threatening mankind, we must succeed in limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius in accordance with the Paris Agreement. This will only succeed if action is taken worldwide. Initiatives like the SBT, which are promoting a new economic paradigm, are required. We at VAUDE want to make our contribution and have set ourselves the goal of climate neutral manufacturing for all of our products. In order to verifiably achieve this, we are working with SBT to gradually reduce our CO2 emissions in the global supply chain.«

Antje von Dewitz, VAUDE CEO

VAUDE now has two years to develop a comprehensive target with corresponding objectives, which will be regularly reviewed by the initiative.

VAUDE Climate Goals

With the SBT, VAUDE is significantly expanding its climate strategy and setting itself the goal of climate-neutral manufacturing for all of its products worldwide. The VAUDE company premises in Tettnang and its “Made in Germany” products manufactured there have been climate-neutral since 2012. The use of 100 % green electricity from renewable energy sources – partially through our own photovoltaic systems, the conversion to LED lighting and a comprehensive mobility concept – are just a few of the measures that have already been successfully implemented to minimize the company’s climate footprint.

VAUDE is now committed to defining science-based climate targets for its global supply chain. These are made measurable and verified in accordance with the most internationally recognized scientific methodology, the Science Based Targets initiative. Using a step-by-step plan, VAUDE will first record the energy consumption of its 45 producers in the global supply chain, including upstream production of materials, and then successively reduce CO2 emissions. The focus here is on the transition to renewable energies and the use of resource-conserving materials in the manufacturing process. "For climate-neutral product manufacturing, we will first optimize our supply chain processes from material production to the finished product to ensure maximum resource conservation and high material and energy efficiency, and then compensate for unavoidable emissions," explained Hilke Patzwall, CSR Manager at VAUDE.

»As a co-initiator of the initiative, we are delighted that VAUDE is setting itself an even more comprehensive, globally-based target. We need allies such as these who are setting a good example and providing motivation for other companies.«

Alexander Liedke, Senior Manager Sustainable Business & Markets at WWF Germany

VAUDE has already set its first concrete objectives. By 2024, at least 90 % of all VAUDE products will have a biobased or recycled material content of greater than 50 %. VAUDE is following the principles of a closed-loop economy: Through the use of renewable raw materials and the recycling of materials, fossil resources will be conserved and CO2 emissions in the production of materials will be significantly reduced.

The Science Based Targets initiative

The Science Based Targets initiative mobilizes companies to set science-based climate targets to help them comply with the Paris Climate Change Accord. It is a collaboration between the CDP (Disclosure Insight Action), UN Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).