SAP aims to be a role model for climate action as well. In 2009, SAP set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions back to the levels of 2000 by the year 2020. It achieved that goal more than two years early, despite increasing its employee base fourfold. In 2017, SAP announced a commitment to making operations carbon neutral by 2025. This target included all direct emissions as well as a selected subset of indirect emissions from supply chains and services.
SAP became a member of the Science Based Targets Initiative in 2017 and was the first in Germany with a science-based carbon reduction target for 2050. SAP was also among the first companies in 2019 to commit to science-based 1.5°C-aligned reduction targets. This corresponds to an 85 percent reduction in the company’s 2016 emissions level by 2050, including energy consumption of SAP products in use by customers.
When emissions cannot be avoided or reduced, SAP compensates by investing in CO2 offsets, and in return receives CO2 credits from the sponsored projects. The focus is on high-quality projects, such as Livelihoods funds, which combine reforestation with bettering the livelihoods of rural communities. This fulfills the Gold Standard of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
SAP’s annual integrated report contains a detailed analysis of its emissions and impacts and is considered one of the most progressive in the technology industry. The company is a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact and a member of associations, including CDP, the Value Balancing Alliance and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Additionally, SAP is the leading software company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices.
SAP joins Gucci, The RealReal and Lavazza Group in the CEO Carbon Neutral Challenge issued by Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri. Gucci is part of Kering, which has also declared total carbon neutrality.
Visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @SAPNews.
