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Danish bioscience company committed to curb climate change

Danish Chr. Hansen have joined the United Nation’s climate initiative to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C. Thus, Chr. Hansen commit to set an ambitious carbon emission reduction target through the Science Based Targets initiative.

Business Ambition for 1.5°C: Our Only Future is an urgent call to action, led by a global coalition of UN agencies, business and industry leaders. Here, Chr. Hansen align their business with the most ambitious aim of the Paris Agreement obligating themselves to reduce their emissions and to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

According to the Science Based Targets initiative, a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), World Resources Institute (WRI), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and one of the We Mean Business Coalition commitments, we must hold temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels to ensure a low-carbon transformation and to mitigate some of the worst climate impacts. Thereby, avoiding irreversible damage to our societies, economies and the natural world.

Ensuring a climate-friendly future

2020 have shown that when acting collectively across industries, governments and communities, things can be accelerated fast, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen how we are depended on nature and a stable global food and health system. Thus, this is a unique opportunity to take action and make sure that we do not return to business usual. When rebooting our economy, we must have a green signature, and allow the private sector and public institutions to build back better.

“By setting a science-based target in line with a 1.5°C future, we make a commitment to provide solutions for a more climate friendly future,” says CEO at Chr. Hansen, Mauricio Graber.

A corporate responsibility to fight climate change

Chr. Hansen have the experience of more than 145 years to bring sustainable innovations to the market to solve global challenges. As an example, their food cultures, that can delay spoilage in fermented dairy products like yogurt, can potentially reduce yogurt waste, contributing positively to reduce carbon emissions.

Sustainability is a crucial part of Chr. Hansen’s DNA and that is why they consider it their corporate responsibility to take effective measure to help fight climate change. In January 2020, Chr. Hansen were awarded the world’s second most sustainable company by Corporate Knights and are committed to further minimising their environmental impact.

“Committing to the business ambition for 1.5 °C is a clear sign that we are stepping up stronger on our ambition level when it comes to curbing climate change,” says Torsten Steenholt, executive vice president at Chr. Hansen.

Sustainable supplier

In 2019, Chr. Hansen met their CO2 efficiency target and to stay on the right track, they are currently defining science-based carbon emission reduction targets across their entire value chain.

“We will work even harder to become a sustainable supplier, focusing on reducing production and transportation emissions. Also, our innovation teams are continuously searching for new ways to upcycle and transform resources, for instance, we are offering our customers more concentrated cultures with a lower carbon footprint,” says Torsten Steenholt.

Source: Chr. Hansen