AkzoNobel: CO₂ Reduction Achieved Four Years Ahead of Schedule
AkzoNobel has already achieved its 2030 target of halving CO₂ emissions from its own operations. The target, validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, called for a 50% reduction in emissions compared to the base year of 2018—and was achieved four years ahead of schedule.
In 2020, AkzoNobel set a goal of reducing its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 50%, using 2018 as the base year. According to the company, the fact that this goal was achieved four years ahead of schedule underscores how firmly sustainability is now embedded in AkzoNobel’s day-to-day operations. “We have set a clear goal to become climate neutral by 2050, and we are very proud to have taken an important step toward achieving this goal,” says Wijnand Bruinsma, Director of Sustainability at AkzoNobel. “As a leading company in the global paints and coatings industry, we also want to be recognized for our pioneering role in sustainability—and we won’t stop there. After all, it’s about leading by example: We must drive the reduction of CO₂ emissions in our own operations so that we can convince the value chain to follow suit.”
Achieving Climate Goals Through Renewable Electricity
AkzoNobel is currently powered 100% by electricity from renewable energy sources on three continents—North America, Latin America, and Europe—covering 69% of its production sites. The full transition was also recently completed in South Africa and Vietnam. In total, 92 of the company’s sites now use 100% electricity from renewable sources. One of the most significant contributions toward achieving the 2030 Scope 1 target came from the Pilawa site in Poland, where 1.7 million euros were recently invested to replace the facility’s gas-fired boilers with heat pumps. This site is also home to the company’s largest solar power plant in Europe. The system has been in operation since 2024 and comprises 3,551 solar modules. “We’re not just focusing on our own operations,” Bruinsma continues. “We’ve also set a goal for 2030 to cut CO₂ emissions in half across our entire value chain. This is proving to be a greater challenge, but we are making progress and will continue to innovate together with suppliers, customers, and other partners as we intensify our efforts in the Scope 3 area.”
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