Givaudan named ‘Enterprising Leader’ at 2023 RE100 Awards

Givaudan has received the prestigious ‘Enterprising Leader’ award at this year’s RE100 Awards. The award was presented in a ceremony on 19 September in New York City as part of the official Climate Week celebrations.

RE100 is the global corporate renewable energy initiative bringing together hundreds of large and ambitious businesses committed to 100% renewable electricity. Now in their fourth year, the RE100 Awards celebrate the pioneering and ambitious work of its members. Givaudan has been a member of RE100 since 2015, committing to a target of 100% renewable electricity by 2025. This commitment is an important milestone in the Company’s bold ambition to become climate positive before 2050.

RE100’s ‘Enterprising Leader’ award recognises organisations who are demonstrating leadership in their industry or home market by embarking on their renewable electricity journey. Judges look for evidence of organisations who are going ‘above and beyond’ on their renewable electricity strategies as well as examples of innovative and impactful sourcing strategies and organisations’ approaches to overcoming challenges within these.

“We’re extremely proud to be recognised for our renewable electricity efforts, the success of which is driven by colleagues around the world who play a part in our journey every day. As we continue to advance towards our own goals, we must also look at the bigger picture and the wider collective impact we can be part of. As a business community we must continue to raise our level of ambition on climate action; leveraging shared knowledge, insight and inspiration to fuel action. Partnerships like RE100 enable this which is why they are so vital to achieving our collective aims and why our membership is so important to us.”

Willem Mutsaerts, Head of Global Procurement and Sustainability

Examples of the Company’s action include a LEED gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for its innovative business centre at Kemptthal, Zurich. The certification was awarded in recognition of the business centre’s variety of innovative energy-saving technologies including geothermal probes, solar panels on the roof which help to save 10% of annual energy costs, and heat pump technology which helps minimise CO₂ emissions, cutting annual energy costs by 50% (compared to a reference building).

In Johannesburg, South Africa, Givaudan has installed almost 800 solar panels on the roofs of its buildings, generating the potential for 490,000 kWh units of cleaner energy annually.

Using this cleaner energy to power its production line electrical equipment and its offices means the Company can mitigate an estimated 9,800 tonnes of CO₂ emissions over the next 25 years; the equivalent of planting 43,210 trees. The system currently provides annual savings of around 20% on electricity consumption, reduces Givaudan’s reliance on the grid and helps the Company hedge electricity price increases.

At Givaudan’s headquarters in Vernier, the Company has been generating its own energy on-site through a 1,428 m² solar installation with a capacity of 187 kWh. This now powers one of its on-site warehouses. The site reached 100% renewable electricity in 2007, further reinforcing the Company’s long-standing commitment and legacy of action.

Givaudan continues to make strong progress on its renewable electricity journey. As of the end of 2022, the Company had attained 90% renewable electricity supply and 56 production sites were powered 100% by electricity from renewable sources by the end of the reporting year. In September 2023 Givaudan signed the Global Renewable Alliance’s #3xRenewables open letter; a call to triple global renewable energy capacity to at least 11,000 GW by 2030.

For further information on Givaudan’s climate positive journey, including the Company’s renewable electricity journey, visit the latest 2022 Sustainability Report.