Wilo Sustainability Report 2020

As the winner of the German Sustainability Award 2021 in the “Climate” category, Wilo is fully aware of its corporate responsibility and has reaffirmed its commitment to climate protection and sustainability. Now more than ever during the pandemic, the world needs entrepreneurial role models who take responsibility and make a decisive contribution to tackling the pandemic.

The coronavirus crisis has only highlighted how urgent sustainable climate protection really is. “It’s encouraging that more and more countries around the world are setting ambitious climate goals and reaffirming their commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement”, explains Oliver Hermes, President & CEO of the Wilo Group. As an innovation leader in the sector, he also sees Wilo as a climate protection pioneer in terms of sustainable water infrastructure: “Climate protection has been an integral part of our DNA since the company was founded. It’s our explicit goal to provide better access to clean water for 100 million people by 2025”, the CEO explains. Wilo serves critical infrastructures, the maintenance of which takes on a particular importance in times of crisis. This is especially true when it comes to securing the water supply, but also in terms of the functionality of buildings and facilities which our society relies on heavily. For example, numerous Wilo pumps are used in hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.

Corporate political responsibility – both an incentive and an aspiration
Global challenges such as climate change or the coronavirus pandemic can, however, only be overcome together with global thinking. That’s why the Wilo Group, in collaboration with international network partners, is promoting future-oriented, environmentally-friendly solutions and proactively encouraging dialogue with governments, NGOs, associations and partner companies. For this reason, Corporate Political Responsibility (CPR) has been firmly integrated into the Wilo Group’s sustainability strategy for the first time. CPR describes the political action of companies that use the links between politics and business as an opportunity to help shape the socio-political context. “This is increasingly expected by our various stakeholders, from customers and suppliers to our staff and shareholders. It is both an incentive and an aspiration for us to assume political responsibility within the framework of sustainable management”, Oliver Hermes points out.

Climate-neutral production worldwide
The core of Wilo’s sustainability strategy is focused first and foremost on supplying more people with clean water worldwide whilst at the same time reducing its environmental footprint. This starts at the traditional headquarters in Dortmund, the Wilopark, which was recently opened in 2021, as Georg Weber, Chief Technology Officer and board member of the Wilo Group explains: “We view climate protection as extremely important, especially at our own production sites. The Wilopark is the largest investment project in our company’s history and sets new standards in terms of energy efficiency. Today, production is already climate-neutral at this site and, incidentally, we also utilise our own innovative solutions. Production will be climate-neutral at all main production sites worldwide by 2025”. These efforts have also been recognised by external bodies: The Wilo Group received the TüV certification as a “climate-neutral company in Dortmund”, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Gold certification of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), both for the “Pioneer Cube” administration office building.

Guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
With a sustainability strategy that builds on the corporate strategy, the Wilo Sustainability Report focuses on seven of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With the Sustainable Development Goals “Clean Water and Sanitation”, “Decent Work and Economic Growth”, “Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure”, “Sustainable Cities and Communities”, “Responsible Consumption and Production”, “Climate Action” and “Partnerships for the Goals”, Wilo is consistently guided by the values and goals defined in its own corporate strategy.