The STIHL climate strategy

With its climate strategy, STIHL sets out the guidelines for the company's actions to protect the climate in the short, medium and long term. Our objective is the elimination of the STIHL Group's carbon footprint. We are therefore committed to achieving climate neutrality at all our locations around the world.

To meet our climate objective, we are initially focusing on the energy consumption within our value chain that we can control directly. This comprises direct emissions (scope 1 in the terms of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol GHG) resulting from the combustion of gas and oil to heat buildings and during manufacturing processes, assembly and product development, as well as from the fuel used by vehicle fleets and from coolant leaks. In addition, we are also including indirect emissions (scope 2, electricity and district heating). In 2019, the scope 1 and 2 emissions from STIHL production companies and the Dieburg distribution centre (Germany) amounted to some 90,000 tonnes.

Emissions occurring in activities further upstream and downstream in the value chain (scope 3), such as the acquisition and manufacture of raw materials or the use and disposal of products, are not something we can control by ourselves. Nevertheless, STIHL is assuming responsibility by clearly defining areas of future action for the supply chain and product use as well as end-of-life measures.

Long-term goal

In terms of emissions from up- and downstream processes (scope 3) outside STIHL’s actual area of activity, we are currently evaluating the potential for reductions with the ambitious aim of reaching climate neutrality well before 2050 and ahead of the schedule set out in the Paris Agreement.

The path to climate neutrality

To achieve the objective of climate neutrality (scope 1 and 2), STIHL will focus on following pillars:

Green electricity

From January 2021, the STIHL locations in Germany will only use green electricity, in other words, power from renewable sources. Our green electricity will meet the strict criteria of the ok-power seal for eco-power and will all come from new hydropower plants in Europe. With an average annual electricity purchase in Germany of roughly 69,000 MWh, we will be able to immediately cut our energy-related CO2 emissions in Germany by some 50 percent through using green electricity.

Energy efficiency

Energy efficiency up – emissions down

We are committed to saving at least 40 percent of energy at our global locations by 2030 in comparison with 2019. Our approach for many years has been to conserve resources in our production processes to the greatest extent possible. Using materials efficiently, conserving water, electricity and heat, and designing buildings and spaces with sustainability in mind are the mainstays of our strategy. Our German plants are certified to ISO 14001 Environmental Management and ISO 50001 Energy Management. With our ongoing measures for improving energy efficiency we have already been able to save energy whilst also achieving an increase in production numbers. These measures will now be intensified. The focus here will be on the implementation of new technologies such as the optimised use and distribution of process heating, energy storage, renewal and optimisation of our distribution networks for energy, energy-efficient drive systems for production facilities, generation of renewable energy and energy-saving lighting.

In recent years, STIHL has put many measures in place to improve energy efficiency. Click through our gallery to see a range of model projects from the world of STIHL.

Energy generation

Energy generation from renewable sources

STIHL will continue to generate its own electricity from green energy sources at our sites. Even now, cogeneration units, solar installations and wind turbines are in use at our international locations, for example. We are pressing ahead with the ongoing expansion of our own installations. In addition, we are planning to invest in energy parks.

Mobility strategy

Changing mobility at STIHL

We are developing a mobility strategy focussed on alternative drive technologies to provide low-emission options for commuting between our plants and will convert on-site traffic to electric mobility where possible.

Incidentally, we are already helping our employees with environmentally sustainable mobility by offering subsidies for public transport tickets and e-bike rental, for example. This makes a small contribution towards reducing our scope 3 emissions. At the moment we are looking into setting up central mobility stations to operate in conjunction with digital solutions such as booking apps.

Compensation

In general, we believe in the principle that reducing emissions comes before compensation. However, unavoidable emissions – for example, from combustion processes or electricity in countries where there is only limited availability of green electricity or none at all – are mitigated via compensatory measures. Here we use only internationally recognised and independent certification, such as the Gold Standard. The projects we have selected support social as well as environmental causes.

STIHL anticipates that it will have to compensate a total of some 60,000 tonnes of CO2 during the period from 2021 to 2023. Our purchase of the associated compensation certificates is enabling us to support a project for climate protection in Gatsibo, Rwanda. This project funds the renovation of drinking water boreholes along with the introduction of efficient cooking stoves, and makes an important contribution to protecting the environment, improving the health of the local population and maintaining biodiversity.

You can read more about the climate protection project here.