We made good progress on our environmental ambitions, as defined in our Responsible Care Plan
The DSM Responsible Care Plan (DRCP) is aligned with our strategy. The DRCP defines our ambitions, targets and actions in the Planet-related fields of environmental footprint, value chain sustainability and climate adaptation.
Our key targets are our Science Based Targets
The key targets in the DRCP are our Science Based Targets (SBT) that represent our contribution to climate change mitigation. In 2021, we increased our ambition level based on our strong performance on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions and to reflect the latest scientific insights from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Our SBT are an absolute reduction of GHG emissions from our operations (scope 1 + 2) by 50% (strengthened from 30% in 2021) and a value chain (scope 3) intensity reduction of 28%, both by 2030 versus our 2016 baseline. These are also the foundation for our net-zero-by-2050 commitment. The independent Science Based Targets initiative reviewed and approved our targets first in early 2019 and again for our step-up in ambition in 2021.
Our scope 1 + 2 target is supported by our renewable electricity target (75% of purchased electricity to be sourced from renewables by 2030 and reaching 100% at the earliest possibility) and our annual average energy efficiency improvement of at least 1% until 2030. Our scope 3 target is supported by the CO2REDUCE program.
Besides mitigating climate change, we are also working on climate adaptation. In 2020–2021, we conducted physical risk assessments on our top 30 sites to improve the resilience of our assets against potential physical impacts of climate change. In 2021, we also established and piloted a process in two Business Groups to identify and assess the potential impacts of the different speeds of transition to a net-zero world. We will expand and continue this work iteratively in the coming years. More information on our risk assessment is provided in Risk management.
Our other company targets are driving improvements in the areas of water, waste, other emissions and substances of concern. We will continue to drive the various water improvement plans that we identified during the water risk assessments in the past year. We committed to reduce our water intake in water-stressed areas. Furthermore, we continue to enhance our insights and capabilities to steer waste reductions and we are further developing action plans for products containing substances of very high concern. We regularly review progress on our plans and update our targets accordingly. Our target setting process is underpinned by the plans and measures needed for their realization.
In 2021, we made good progress on the key objectives of the DRCP as reported elsewhere in this section. DRCP 2019–2021 was successfully delivered, with GHG emissions reductions ahead of plan and top-quartile safety performance. Our new 2022–2024 DRCP fully aligns with our updated strategy and reflects the industry’s standards and expectations. Our key topics remain climate and safety, with other key topics of product stewardship, industrial hygiene, employee health & well-being, water and waste and biodiversity. Due to decreased materiality to the company, topics that are more specifically aimed at the chemical industry (e.g., volatile organic compounds and waste recycled) will be monitored, but no target level is defined. Additional information about our Planet performance is provided in the five-year summary — sustainability tables, our Value creation model and Stakeholder engagement.
