Firmenich recognized for global environmental leadership with fifth CDP triple “A”

One of only two companies worldwide to achieve top ratings in climate, water and forests for five consecutive years

Firmenich, the world’s largest privately-owned fragrance and taste company, has been awarded a fifth consecutive triple “A” by CDP for the Group’s global leadership in transparency and action on climate change, water security and forestry protection. CDP today placed Firmenich among 12 companies that achieved a triple “A” listing in 2022, out of nearly 15,000 that were scored based on data they submitted to CDP. The Group is one of only two companies worldwide that have achieved at least five consecutive triple “A” ratings.

CDP’s annual environmental disclosure and scoring process is widely recognized as the gold standard of corporate environmental transparency. In 2022, over 680 investors with over US$130 trillion in assets and 280 major purchasers with US$6.4 trillion in procurement spend requested companies to disclose data on environmental impacts, risks, and opportunities through CDP’s platform. A record-breaking 18,700 companies responded.

“For the fifth year in a row, CDP has recognized our global leadership in environmental performance with a triple ‘A’ rating,” Gilbert Ghostine, CEO of Firmenich, said. “Firmenich is one of only two companies worldwide and the only one in its industry to have achieved this exceptional sustained performance, which makes me so proud of all 11,000 colleagues who strive every day to deliver on our ambitious Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) targets for climate and nature. Guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we are successfully placing our ESG strategy at the heart of our growth, providing sustainable solutions for our customers and achieving excellence with both our measurable ESG performance and our record financial results in 2022. Sustainability and good business are synonymous: our journey demonstrates that businesses can drive urgently needed change for the planet and we are determined to keep on raising the bar.”

Neil McFarlane, Senior VP Global Quality, Health, Safety & Environment, Firmenich, said: “At Firmenich, we strive to be proactive in our approach to the climate crisis. We place great emphasis on the science supporting this critical issue which helps us frame our strategy towards decarbonization. Our colleagues are highly motivated by environmental action, and we are confident that we are taking the necessary measures to manage and minimize our impact, with the aim of leading our industry on the path to net zero and therefore ensuring the best possible future for the generations that follow.”

Maxfield Weiss, Executive Director, CDP Europe, said: “COP27 showed the need for transformational change is more critical than ever if we are to limit warming to 1.5 °C, and to see consistently high ratings in businesses is cause for optimism. Only 12 companies globally have achieved triple A scores for climate change, forests, and water security leadership and I’m delighted that Firmenich is one of two companies that sustained this pace for at least five years in a row. With the EU’s ground-breaking new reporting regulation, the CSRD, now agreed, CDP A List companies are showing they are ahead of the game – taking clear action to reduce emissions and to address environmental impacts throughout their value chains. This is the type of environmental transparency and action we need economy-wide to prevent ecological collapse.”

Firmenich aims to achieve absolute carbon emissions reduction by 2030 in line with limiting temperature rise to 1.5(degrees celsius), as well as net-zero emissions by 2039 across its direct operations and value chain. The Group’s net-zero targets were validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in August 2022, making Firmenich the first company in its industry to receive SBTi approval.

Sustainability has been at the core of Firmenich’s values for several decades. In its audited ESG Report 2022, the company reported that Scope 1 and 2 emissions were reduced by 36.1% vs. 2017, while three manufacturing sites, in Norway, Singapore and South Africa, became carbon neutral in FY22, all operating without the use of offsets. Firmenich also maintained 100% renewable electricity in its operations worldwide. Firmenich strives to reduce critical water risks across its operations through annual assessments and aims to reduce its total water use globally, with a vision to reach water neutrality by 2030. Overall, Firmenich retains a Sustainalytics score of 7.5, ranking 51st of approximately 15,500 companies worldwide, highlighting its low ESG risk profile.

More details of Firmenich’s performance and targets on climate and nature are available in its ESG Report 2022 [https://www.firmenich.com/sites/default/files/ESGReportFY22.pdf].

Note to editors

The full methodology and criteria for the A List is available on CDP’s website at: https://www.cdp.net/en/companies/companies-scores

About Firmenich

Firmenich, the world’s largest privately-owned fragrance and taste company, was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1895, and has been family-owned for 127 years. Firmenich is a leading business-to-business company specialized in the research, creation, manufacture and sale of perfumes, flavors, and ingredients. Renowned for its world-class research and creativity, as well as its leadership in sustainability, Firmenich offers its customers superior innovation in formulation, a broad and high-quality palette of ingredients, and proprietary technologies including biotechnology, encapsulation, olfactory science, and taste modulation. Firmenich had an annual turnover of 4.7 billion Swiss Francs at end June 2022. More information about Firmenich is available at www.firmenich.com

About CDP

CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states, and regions. Founded in 2000 and working with more than 680 financial institutions with over $130 trillion in assets, CDP pioneered using capital markets and corporate procurement to motivate companies to disclose their environmental impacts, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Nearly 20,000 organizations around the world disclosed data through CDP in 2022, including more than 18,700 companies worth half of global market capitalization, and over 1,100 cities, states, and regions. Fully TCFD aligned, CDP holds the largest environmental database in the world, and CDP scores are widely used to drive investment and procurement decisions towards a zero carbon, sustainable and resilient economy. CDP is a founding member of the Science Based Targets initiative, We Mean Business Coalition, The Investor Agenda, and the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. Visit cdp.net or follow us @CDP to find out more.

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SOURCE: Firmenich