Gütersloh, 07/05/2024

Bertelsmann Environmental Report: Further Advances In Mitigating Climate Change

By 2030, Bertelsmann aims to halve its CO₂ emissions compared to 2018, and to become climate-neutral. In its recently published Environmental Report for 2023, Bertelsmann reports on the progress made on implementing its “Climate Neutrality 2030” strategy. The reported greenhouse gas emissions were again reduced year-on-year: They now stand at 1.8 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent gases (t CO₂e), down from 1.9 million t CO₂e in 2022. You can find the Bertelsmann Environmental Report 2023 as a PDF document attached to this article.

Bertelsmann Chief HR Officer Immanuel Hermreck once again presents a positive interim stocktaking for the past year: “With its ‘Climate Neutrality 2030’ strategy, Bertelsmann has made great progress in reducing CO₂ emissions to date. For example, 99 percent of our sites across the Group now use green electricity. The next step will be to anchor climate protection even more firmly in our businesses.”

Green electricity share now at 99 percent across the Group

At more than 90 percent, indirect emissions, especially in the supply chain, accounted for the largest by far share of GHG emissions (e.g. carbon dioxide and methane) reported by Bertelsmann. The emissions for print products, i.e. paper production, external printing services, transportation and distribution, are the largest influencing factors in this area. Emissions emitted directly at Bertelsmann locations or by company vehicles fell by 37 percent compared to the previous year. This was mainly due to the switch to 100 percent green electricity at energy-intensive locations such as Bertelsmann Marketing Services in the U.S. and Arvato in Poland. However, site closures at the Prinovis printing plants in Dresden and Liverpool also contributed to the decline. As a result, total energy consumption fell by 17 percent from 1,443,100 megawatt hours (MWh) to 1,202,500 MWh.

With a significant increase in the proportion of green electricity from 76 percent to 99 percent, Bertelsmann has almost reached the “100 percent green electricity procurement” milestone. Solar power generation now amounts to 21,900 MWh (previous year: 16,900 MWh). This corresponds to the annual electricity consumption of more than 4,000 single-family homes. A further expansion of solar power generation is already planned, along with the go-live of already-installed systems. Around two thirds of the quantities produced were consumed at the sites themselves, while the remaining quantities were fed into the electricity grid, thus contributing to a reduction in grid emissions

Significant drop in paper consumption

In addition to its climate target, Bertelsmann is pursuing the goal of procuring 100 percent of the paper it needs from sustainable sources (recycled paper or virgin fiber paper certified according to FSC, PEFC, SFI, or comparable standards). In 2023, 96 percent of the paper we procured ourselves came from sustainable sources (previous year: 94 percent). The total amount of paper consumed fell significantly from 1.15 million tons to 910,000 tons. This decrease is primarily due to declines in the production of print products. Bertelsmann Marketing Services accounted for the largest share of this decline with around 240,000 tons less paper consumption, followed by Penguin Random House with around 16,000 tons and RTL Group’s magazine business with around 8,000 tons less paper used. As in the previous year, Arvato Group again reported a growth-related increase in packaging cartons and paper of around 19,000 tons.

The mobility behavior of employees is also relevant for climate protection at Bertelsmann. The figures for 2023 also show an increase in the number of kilometers driven for commuting and business trips. Compared to the time before the coronavirus restrictions, mobility behavior remains at a lower level overall despite a renewed increase. A total of 676 million kilometers were driven to and from work in 2023, compared to 637 million kilometers in the previous year. The number of kilometers traveled for business trips in 2023 amounted to 169 million, an increase of 39 percent. 69 percent of these journeys were by air, 21 percent by train and public transport.

Data from more than 500 Bertelsmann locations worldwide, collected via the Bertelsmann environmental platform “green.screen”, was used to calculate the carbon footprint. The results are then automatically calculated at company, division and Group level and visualized in dashboards on “green.screen”.

Bertelsmann Environmental Report