Countries were unable to agree on new emissions reductions targets at the World Climate Summit COP27. Yet this outcome of the negotiations changes little for Greiner: The company long ago set its own decarbonization targets and intends to continue this path. Greiner plans to be carbon neutral by 2030 and submitted its own climate targets to the Science-Based Targets initiative in the previous week. In these, Greiner promises to meet science-based targets that are needed to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. 34 companies submitted their science-based targets in Austria, with 4,016 doing so worldwide.
Governments and companies alike bear responsibility
“Committing to the science-based targets puts us on the right track but there is a flip side to this: We are still in the minority! To solve the climate crisis, the world needs more companies to commit to science-based targets. This is especially true when governments delay in reaching agreements, as we have just seen with the result of the COP27 negotiations,” said Axel Kühner, CEO of Greiner AG, speaking plainly.
Enormous potential to reduce emissions
Greiner considers itself part of the solution to tackling the climate crisis. The company emitted almost 2.5 million metric tons of CO2 in 2021. This clearly shows that the potential for reducing emissions is enormous. One of Greiner’s objectives, for example, is to become a carbon-neutral company by 2030. In addition, Greiner is constantly working on closing loops and designing innovative packaging. By 2025, all packaging is to be reusable, recyclable or compostable.
COP27: Valuable insights for Greiner team in attendance
“The best way for us to reduce our emissions is to be open to new solutions and methods to make our production efficient and low-emission, while also ensuring that emissions are measured. Discussions with experts are also essential and valuable when it comes to achieving this emissions reduction,” said Kühner. For this reason, Greiner took a delegation to the second week of negotiations at COP27 in Sharm-El-Sheikh, where it spoke to experts from CDP (a non-profit organization for environmental reporting), the BCG Center for Climate & Sustainability and WWF Austria and gained valuable insights on the ground.
