Firmenich, the world's largest privately held fragrance and flavor company, today releases its annual Environment, Society and Governance (ESG) report, which tracks progress towards the Group's groundbreaking sustainability goals. Fiscal year 2022 saw strong sustainability performance across the Group's three key pillars of climate, nature and people, supported by a growing and leading independent assessment and strengthened ESG governance.
"I am proud that we continued to accelerate our leading ESG actions despite the challenging economic climate and that we continued to make measurable progress toward our 2025 goals, even exceeding them for renewable ingredients and living wage", said Gilbert Fantôme, CEO of Firmenich. "Our Firmenich Inclusive Capitalism business model is gaining momentum and is increasingly relevant in today's world. Every year, new climate extremes are having a growing impact around the world: Firmenich's bold environmental ambition is a vital business investment today and for the future. "
"Firmenich's ESG strategy continues to advance in our own operations and throughout our supply chain"said Thomas Androd, senior director of corporate sustainability.. "In addition, consumer demand for sustainable products is a structural growth trend in our industry and Firmenich's outstanding ESG credentials, combined with our leadership and innovation in natural and renewable ingredients, become even more relevant to our customers as they move forward with their own sustainability roadmaps. "
ESG Performance Highlights for FY 2022
- Taking action on climate change: Firmenich was one of only two companies to receive a fourth consecutive CDP Triple A rating for climate, water and forests. Three manufacturing sites, in Norway, Singapore and South Africa, were carbon neutral in FY22, all operating without the use of offsets. Firmenich has maintained the decoupling of manufacturing growth from its CO2 emissions: during Ex22, Scope 1 and 2 emissions were reduced by 36.1 % compared to 2017, and new ingredient sites reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 12.2 % compared to 2020. The Group maintained 100 % of renewable electricity in its operations, including new sites. acquisitions[1]. Firmenich aims to achieve carbon neutrality in its direct operations by 2025, an absolute reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 in line with limiting the temperature increase to 1.5°C, and net zero emissions by 2039 across its direct operations and value chain (Scopes 1, 2 and 3). Its net zero targets were validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in August 2022, making Firmenich the first company in its sector to receive SBTi accreditation.
- Embracing Nature: Building on the UEBT's validation of the Group's biodiversity strategy, work has begun on the restoration of 15 % of Firmenich's sites at risk to biodiversity, in line with Science-Based Targets for Nature. Implementation of verified access and benefit sharing (ABS) at 100 % was increased. Firmenich continued to increase the proportion of ultimately or partially biodegradable ingredients in its fragrances to 96.6 % on average, after exceeding its target of 95 % a year earlier. Firmenich strengthened green proteins in product development, enabling customers to accelerate the plant-based food revolution and contribute to climate change mitigation.
- Caring about people: Building on gender pay equity and its work to strengthen inclusion, Firmenich achieved Living Wage certification by Fairwage Network in 2022 ahead of the Group's 2025 goal, a key milestone to ensure a decent standard of living for all employees and their families. The Group advanced its high global health and safety standards with an improved Total Recordable Case Rate (TRC) of 0.26 and a third consecutive Gold Award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). Firmenich continued to maintain zero non-compliance with human rights and intensified its efforts to drive concerted business action by becoming the impact sponsor of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) for Labor and Decent Work.
Overall, Firmenich achieved an improved rating from Sustainalytics with a score of 7.5, in the global top 50 of approximately 15,000 companies, highlighting the Group's low ESG risk profile. A second consecutive Platinum rating by Ecovadis with an industry-leading score of 88 % placed Firmenich in the top 1 % of all companies assessed worldwide. The Group was also ranked for the first time as one of the "2022 World's Most Ethical Companies" by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and promoting standards for ethical business practices.
Firmenich continued to work actively in alliances and partnerships, including the United Nations Global Compact, the Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT), One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B) and the Science-Based Targets (SBTi) initiative, to drive positive change at scale and foster effective action on climate, nature and people in the business world.
