Accelerating towards a climate-neutral society

Let’s stop subsidizing the past and accelerate towards a climate-neutral society

There is power in biosolutions to reduce emissions everywhere

Imagine if biology – the study of life – held the answers to some of the most urgent questions we face. Imagine if it could help us achieve the reductions in emissions and use of fossil-based chemicals our planet so badly needs?

There’s no need to imagine. Because right now, our biosolutions are helping customers to reduce and even capture emissions from industry. They’re transforming plants into power and heat. They’re enabling lower-carbon transport fuels and proteins. They’re shrinking the carbon footprint of agriculture. And they’re helping consumers to cut their carbon emissions when doing laundry.

Time to rethink the big picture

Did you know that we need to reduce our global greenhouse gas emissions from the current 55 billion tonnes of CO₂ a year to 8.5 billion tonnes of CO₂ a year by 2050 if we are to reach the Paris agreement’s target of a maximum increase of 1.5 degrees? And that we need to achieve half of this reduction already by 2030. That’s just seven years away.

The good news is that these savings are achievable if we accelerate vital changes in how we produce and consume. Biosolutions holds one of the most promising keys: it’s already changing the proteins we eat, replacing fossil- based ingredients in detergents we use, improving the transportation fuels we rely on and optimizing the way we capture carbon – the list goes on.

Every day we are accelerating these changes together with our industry partners – as are our other great colleagues within green technologies. But we could move even faster. The world urgently needs investments, incentives, and the right policy framework to scale sustainable solutions fast.

At Novozymes we are advocating for a rethink of our economy: it needs to be good business to do green business – Let’s work together as businesses, organizations, and governments to step up and make bold decisions for a better tomorrow.

With biotechnology, we can improve something very fundamental: how we produce and how we consume.

Every tonne counts

55 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalents - that was the amount of greenhouse gasses we emitted into our atmosphere in 2021. That’s the same weight as 10,000 Giza pyramids. If we focus on the big number, reducing these emissions seems impossible.

But every tonne counts, so let’s start with what’s possible right now. If we accelerate the use of biosolutions, it’s probably far more than you think. Want to learn more about how our biosolutions are already accelerating us towards a climate-neutral society? Find out below.

Explore our technology in action

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Capturing emissions from industry with biosolutions

Carbon capture is widely considered to be the only practical way to decarbonize industry. Biosolutions can make the process more affordable and sustainable.

Let’s accelerate carbon capture.

Shrinking laundry’s carbon footprint with biosolutions

Imagine if we could lower emissions from our laundry, while stopping 10 tonnes of fossil-based chemicals from going down our drains every minute.

With biobased detergents we can.

Cutting emissions from bread waste with biosolutions

Food waste and loss emits billions of tonnes of CO₂e every year. Since 1990, our biosolutions has saved an estimated 45m tonnes of CO₂ by cutting bread waste.

Let's rethink waste.

Plugging into the power of plants with biosolutions

Biorefineries transform bio-feedstocks such as crops, waste and other organic material into fuel, power, heat, and feed. These plant powerhouses play a key role in the pursuit of a climate-neutral society.

Let’s plug into the power of plants.

Producing low climate-impact proteins with biosolutions

Proteins produced by fermentation have the potential to reduce carbon emissions by more than 90% compared to meat proteins.

Let’s rethink proteins.

Improving food security in the face of climate change with biosolutions

Climate change could put up to 180 million more people at risk of hunger. With crop yields already being impacted, we urgently need to build resilience into crop production systems.

Let’s rethink agriculture.

We need collaboration for the Paris agreement to succeed

We emit billions of tonnes of CO₂ into our atmosphere every year - last year it was 55 billion tonnes. To reach the Paris Climate Agreement’s target of a maximum increase of 1.5°C, we need to act fast and we need to act together. Our emissions must be reduced to 8.5 billion tonnes of CO₂ by 2050. And we need to achieve half of this amount by 2030 - that’s just seven years away.

We need governments, businesses and investors to step up and work together to take the action climate science demands. Knowledge is key.

That’s why we’re constantly working to learn more from our partner organizations and our customers.

Collaboration between business and goverment

How much global greenhouse gas emissions must decline in the coming years to limit global warming to 1.5 or 2.0 °C

Source: UNEP Emission gap report 2023 (link)

Together we’re finding new and better ways to use biosolutions to accelerate

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Helping companies reach their own climate and net-zero targets

We help our customers and partners to use biosolutions to reach their net-zero targets.

We also provide insights to help shape industry standards.

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Advocating for clear emissions reduction markets and frameworks

“Carbon pricing” and “carbon taxation” cuts across many industries. They’re essential to ensure the economic and financial foundations needed for a rapid transition to climate neutrality.

We advocate for clear and ambitious frameworks to guide business and support investments.

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Helping countries see the potential of biosolutions

Each country has its own climate target and action plan. These Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are investment, industry and policy plans updated every five years.

We work with countries to show how NDCs can fulfill their potential and how biosolutions can help.

Our global partnerships for climate action

International Chamber of Commerce

The International Chamber of Commerce. Representing over 42 million businesses around the world, ICC is the official focal point for business and industry engagement with the UN and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Visit ICC

UN Global Compact

UN Global Compact. The world’s largest voluntary sustainability initiative, where as a “LEAD” member among over 13,500 organizations, Novozymes has been part of its climate agenda.

Visit UNGC

Science Based Targets Initiative

The Science-Based Targets Initiative. Defines and promotes private sector best practice in emissions reductions and net-zero targets in line with climate science.

Visit SBTi

The B Team

The B Team and the We Mean Business Coalition, where Novozymes works to both champion and encourage leaders and decision makers to lead by climate example, and to raise wider social awareness.

Visit B Team

The World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum. Novozymes has lead roles within its CEO Climate Leadership Group, the largest initiative of its kind, as well as a specific focus and role within its work on the EU “Green Deal”.

Visit WEF

The United States Council for International Business

The United States Council for International Business. Represents around one third of Fortune 500 companies and is the leading climate voice from North America in global climate negotiations and processes.

Visit USCIB

Danish Government Climate Partnerships

A public-private platform tasked with looking at ways to contribute to CO₂ reductions while supporting competitiveness, exports, jobs, welfare and prosperity.

Visit Partnerships

The Brazilian Bio Innovation Association

The Brazilian BioInnovation Association. Works to engage with country-level decision makers on the role of biosolutions in reaching the country’s climate goals.

Visit ABBI

Scoping the future: Here is a breakdown of scopes 1, 2 and, 3 of GHG emissions and how they look for Novozymes

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Direct GHG emissions that occur from sources controlled or owned by an organization

At Novozymes, our Scope 1 is a small percentage of total emissions, and our largest emission source is via the use of natural gas in our production facilities.

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Indirect GHG emissions associated with purchased energy

This includes gases associated with the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling. At Novozymes, the largest contributor to our Scope 2 is our electricity consumption, and we have committed to source 100% Renewable Electricity by 2030.

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All other GHG emissions resulting from external activities which we impact in our value chain

Scope 3, or value chain emissions, varies based on business nature and location. At Novozymes, it represents the majority of our total GHG emissions. Key sources include: Purchased goods and services, Other energy-related activities beyond Scope 1 or Scope 2, Transportation funded by Novozymes, and Business travel.

Leading the way with Science-Based Targets

The Science-Based Targets initiative provides a clearly-defined pathway for companies toreduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reach net zero by 2050. Climate action is an integral part of Novozymes’ business strategy. We have been leading the way for many years. We were among the first few companies to set a validated Science-Based Target in line with the 1.5°C pathway.

As of November 2022, Novozymes is amongst the first group of companies in the world to have committed to SBTi’s new Corporate Net-Zero Standard by having a net-zero by 2050 science-based target verified by the SBTi. While more than 2,000 companies have SBTi commitments, only about 85 companies have a net-zero science-based target verified by SBTi as per October 25, 2022.

Being a manufacturing company, we have significant climate impact in our value chain. That’s why our science-based targets cover scopes 1, 2 and 3. We’re fully committed to a net-zero future across all three scopes. There’s no time to waste.

Fast-forward across scopes 1, 2 and 3

We've accelerated our net zero journey to a 75% reduction in absolute emissions from operations and 35 % reduction in absolute emissions from supply chain by 2030 from a 2018 baseline. We've also increased our ambition to source 100% Renewable Electricity by 2025 instead of 2030. These are validated Science-Based Targets* in line with the 1.5°C pathway.

^{_{Novozymes commits to reach net zero GHG emissions across the value chain by 2050 from a 2018 base year. Near-Term Targets: Novozymes commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 75% by 2030 from a 2018 base year*. Novozymes also commits to increase annual sourcing of renewable electricity from 37% in 2018 to 100% by 2025. Novozymes further commits to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services, fuel and energy related activities, upstream transportation and distribution, waste generated in operations and business travel 35% by 2030 from a 2018 base year. Long-Term Targets: Novozymes commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 90% by 2050 from a 2018 base year*. Novozymes also commits to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services, fuel and energy related activities, upstream transportation and distribution, waste generated in operations and business travel 90% within the same timeframe. *The targets boundary includes biogenic emissions and removals associated with the use of bioenergy.}}