LANXESS and WACKER Support Foundation 2°

“We now have the chemical industry on board, too. I am delighted to welcome two dedicated chemical companies, WACKER and LANXESS, as new members of our corporate climate protection alliance,” said Sabine Nallinger, Managing Director of Foundation 2°. “The chemical industry is a solution industry forging ahead toward carbon neutrality. Without chemistry, there would be no LEDs, no electric cars, solar modules, or wind turbines. And the upcoming connectivity of the energy transition and digitization in future also depends on chemistry-based innovations,” noted Nallinger.

“Climate protection is a business case for LANXESS. It underscores our plan to be carbon neutral by 2040. However, in order to maintain the entrepreneurial advantages of sustainable management, the political framework conditions must be right. We are firmly convinced that our many years of experience in reducing greenhouse gases will be beneficial to Foundation 2°. Germany has the potential to go ahead with the transition into a carbon neutral future and we want to help,” said Matthias Zachert, Chairman of the Management Board & CEO of LANXESS. To achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, LANXESS has implemented projects to reduce its emissions around the world. The most recent of these was eliminating laughing gas emissions at a site in Antwerp. The company's climate footprint has also become one of its key performance indicators for investments in plants, acquisitions, or compensation of top management.

“There are two decisive levers for chemistry’s path to carbon neutrality: Transitioning from today’s fossil-based industrial production to processes powered by green energy, and taking a value-adding, emission-reducing approach to the ‘waste product’ CO₂,” said Christian Hartel, President & CEO of WACKER. “We are facing this challenge head on and have already electrified over 60 percent of our production processes. In the second step, WACKER needs large amounts of renewable electricity at internationally competitive prices. On the one hand, we are reducing the CO₂ footprint in production and, on the other, making projects economically feasible with innovative, low-greenhouse-gas hydrogen projects such as RHYME Bavaria,” added Hartel. “What’s needed now is swift cooperation from politicians, business and society. Foundation 2° will be an important bridge-builder in this regard.” With RHYME Bavaria, WACKER is pursuing its goal of making a vital contribution toward markedly reducing fossil raw materials in chemical processes and products by producing green hydrogen for industrial use.

The partners all agree: A forward-looking energy and climate policy framework is a prerequisite for German industry to remain competitive. In collaboration with 17 industrial companies – including WACKER and LANXESS – Foundation 2°, Agora Energiewende and Roland Berger have compiled twelve recommendations for action by politicians.

About WACKER

WACKER is a globally active chemical company headquartered in Munich, Germany. With a wide range of state-of-the-art specialty products, WACKER is a leader in numerous fields and industries. Its products are required in countless high-growth end-user sectors, such as photovoltaics, electronics, pharmaceuticals and household/personal-care products. In 2020, the company with approx. 14,300 employees generated sales of € 4.69 billion (reporting date December 31, 2020).

About LANXESS

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of € 6.1 billion in 2020. The company currently has about 14,200 employees in 33 countries. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. LANXESS is listed in the leading sustainability indices Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI World and Europe) and FTSE4Good.

About Foundation 2°

Foundation 2° is an initiative of chairmen, managing directors and family entrepreneurs. Its aim is to call on politicians to establish effective market-based conditions for climate protection and to support the problem-solving skills of German companies. The foundation is named after its most important goal: to limit average global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius. The supporters of the foundation are: AIDA Cruises, ALDI SÜD Dienstleistungs-GmbH & Co. oHG, Allianz SE, DAIKIN Airconditioning Germany GmbH, Deutsche Bahn AG, Deutsche Post DHL Group, DEUTSCHE ROCKWOOL GmbH & Co. KG, Deutsche Telekom AG, Deutsche Wohnen SE, Dirk Rossmann GmbH, DRÄXLMAIER Group, EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, Unternehmensgruppe Gegenbauer, GLS Gemeinschaftsbank eG, GOLDBECK GmbH, HeidelbergCement AG, INTERSEROH Dienstleistungs GmbH/ALBA Services Holding GmbH, Lanxess AG, Otto Group, OTTO FUCHS KG, Papier- und Kartonfabrik Varel GmbH & Co. KG, Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG, PUMA SE, Salzgitter AG, Schüco International KG, Schwäbisch Hall-Stiftung bauen-wohnen-leben, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG, Union Asset Management Holding AG, VTG Aktiengesellschaft and Wacker Chemie AG.