Our 2023 sustainability highlights
Read Climeworks' first Sustainability Report
Our approach to Net Zero
Being the first company to commercialize direct air capture (DAC) technology, we envision being the first DAC company to become Net Zero based on a solid climate strategy. As we are drastically scaling over the coming years to reach gigaton capacity by 2050, we want to keep our own footprint in check.
We have aligned our Net Zero target setting and emission accounting closely to the GHG Protocol and the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). SBTi does not yet provide carbon dioxide removal sector guidance and current standards do not fit our industry. Yet, we do not want to wait to get started until relevant sector guidance is available, which is why we defined an internal working hypothesis to reach Net Zero corporate emissions across all scopes 1-3 by 2030.
Climeworks is a fast-growing company - our team grew by 45% to 397 employees in 2023, which is why our absolute emissions are increasing.
In 2023, we further expanded internationally, entering new markets such as the United States, Kenya, Canada, Norway, the United Kingdom, and APAC. With a growing globally distributed team, it is understandable that our travel emissions increased in 2023 and will likely continue to increase in the near future until more local offices are established.
Our emission reduction measures
Climeworkers as our first core value
Our company’s first core value is ‘Climeworkers’, our employees. This underlines our appreciation for each and every team member and our commitment to a work environment where everyone feels included, welcome, valued and supported. Climeworks’ incredible progress in the past years has only been possible thanks to our dedicated team.
In 2023, our team grew by 45% to 397 employees (head count) across 44 different nationalities in Switzerland, the United States, Germany, and Iceland.
The health and safety of our employees and all stakeholders that we are involved with is of utmost importance to us. Climeworks operates under the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) approach of Safety Management, which aligns with the ISO 9001 Quality Management System, ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System and ISO14001 Environmental Management System standards.
Good Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE) management is of the highest priority and Climeworks operates with a Zero Harm policy to protect our People, Environment, and the Company. Zero harm applies to both the physical and mental health of our employees. That is why we have trained selected employees in mental first aid in addition to our regular first aiders.
With a fast-growing international workforce, it is vital to actively create a welcoming environment and supportive culture for everyone. Climeworks’ expansion into new territories comes with new cultures and perspectives and we decided to make the strengthening of our DEIA activities a key ESG initiative in 2023 - which is reflected in our DEIA commitment.