Sustainability strategy

“We act prudently and responsibly for the benefit of society and the environment.”

Stream near to the Bosch location in Blaichach, Germany.

Bosch is committed to sustainability and is constantly evolving in this respect. The corresponding strategic foundations are anchored in our “New Dimensions — Sustainability 2025” target vision.

Sustainability strategy

Bosch strongly believes that a social and ecological balance is needed to do business successfully in the long term. For this reason, the company aims to secure its business success in a way that preserves resources for current and future generations.

In line with its longstanding commitment but with a greater focus on social challenges, Bosch has set itself clear sustainability targets. Our “New Dimensions — Sustainability 2025” target vision focuses on six megatrends. These issues set the priorities for our commitment to sustainability. Each of which is specified and further developed based on two major aspects with clearly defined, medium-term targets.

Graphic of the Bosch sustainability target vision: The six dimensions of the target vision are arranged in a hexagon. The climate dimension includes the topics "CO2 Scope 1 & 2" and "CO2 Scope 3". The energy dimension includes the topics of “energy efficiency” and “renewable energies”. The water dimension includes the topics “water scarcity” and “water quality”. The urbanization dimension includes the topics of “life cycle analyzes” and “resources and waste”. The globalization dimension includes the issues of “responsibility” and “supply chain”. The health dimension includes the topics of "occupational safety" and "substances of concern". In the middle of the hexagon it says “New Dimensions Sustainability 2025”.

“We want to take action wherever it will be most beneficial for the environment and society.”

Torsten Kallweit, Head of EHS and Sustainability at Bosch

Our target vision in detail

Climate

Aspect 1: CO₂ scope 1 + 2

Bosch is committed to climate action and to achieving the Paris Agreement’s two-degree target. The company aims to be carbon neutral by 2020, both in terms of direct (Scope 1) and indirect emissions related to purchased energy (Scope 2). To achieve this, Bosch is focusing particularly on energy efficiency measures at its own locations, as well as on New Clean Power (NCP). This means that the company will rely on exclusive long-term supply agreements for green energy from new power generation facilities. Bosch also sources green energy with guarantees of origin from existing facilities using renewables. In addition, the company purchases high-quality CO₂ certificates, such as “Gold Standard” certificates.

Aspect 2: CO₂ scope 3

In addition to our target of carbon neutrality for 2020, which applies to scopes 1 and 2, we have also set ourselves a target to reduce scope 3 emissions (i.e. in upstream and downstream stages of the value chain). In the categories “purchased goods”, “logistics”, and the “use of our products sold” we want to reduce our CO₂ emissions by at least 15 percent by 2030.

We have thus set ourselves climate action targets across the entire value chain — and have had these confirmed externally by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Energy

Aspect 1: energy efficiency

Energy efficiency is the key to reaching the climate target. Bosch has set itself the goal of saving 1.7 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy by 2030. With investments of a billion euros, the company aims to promote innovative measures to improve energy efficiency.

Aspect 2: renewable energy

At the same time, Bosch aims to increase energy generation from renewable sources at its sites from 55 GWh in 2018 as baseline year to 400 GWh by 2030. This corresponds to the output of a photovoltaic system the size of around 300 soccer fields. At the same time, we encourage business partners with long-term sourcing contracts to install new renewable energy capacities. In Germany and Mexico, we are already making a substantial contribution to the energy transition in this way.

Water

Aspect 1: water scarcity

Climate scenarios predict that current water risks will worsen as a result of scarcity and poor water quality. For this reason, Bosch has replaced its relative target with an absolute one: by 2025, the company aims to reduce its absolute water consumption by 25 percent at 61 locations where water scarcity is an issue. To assess water risks and respond to them appropriately, Bosch uses the water risk filter developed by WWF. Bosch supports this project with investments of ten million euros per year in order to quickly make improvements and achieve the goals it has set.

Aspect 2: water quality

Wastewater at our sites is mainly generated by the use of cooling water. It also comes from sanitary facilities and canteens and is generated as part of manufacturing. We are working on further reducing wastewater flows and continuously improving quality. In a first step, we have recorded centrally what quantities are involved where, how they are treated, and where they are discharged.

Urbanization

Aspect 1: life-cycle assessments

In an increasingly urbanized world, products are used on a daily basis whose production, use, and disposal leave an ecological footprint. To make this footprint as small as possible, Bosch has already carried out life-cycle assessments in its major product groups. These account for around 50 percent of the company’s sales volume. The company uses the results of these analyses to identify potential for further improving its products’ ecological and social impact. One important aspect of this is the idea of a closed-loop or circular economy.

Aspect 2: resources and waste

Waste in production is the second focal point of urbanization-related activities. Bosch has replaced its past relative target with two new initiatives: reducing hazardous waste and minimizing the amount of waste going to landfills (zero waste to landfill).

Globalization

Aspect 1: responsibility

As a global company with some 440 subsidiaries and regional companies as well as 398 200 associates, Bosch is committed to social and environmental responsibility. Accordingly, the company aims to make the ecological, social, and economic impact of its business activities transparent, and to improve its performance in terms of sustainability. To this end, Bosch continues to improve its reporting practices in line with international standards and to communicate its progress annually. From the 2018 reporting year onward, a Factbook will be published that corresponds to the GRI Standards “Core” option.

Aspect 2: supply chain

As a company that does business responsibly, Bosch increasingly has an eye on the upstream supply chain (the suppliers of suppliers) in the context of the global flow of goods. Starting in 2019, Bosch aims to more clearly identify the ecological and social risks in its supplier network and, on this basis, further develop the existing measures.

Health

Aspect 1: health and safety

Bosch is committed to keeping people and the environment from harm. By 2020, the company aims to reduce the number of accidents per million hours worked to a maximum of 1.7. Since the majority of accidents are the result of human behavior, we focus on recognizing accident and health risks for associates, in order to introduce suitable preventive measures at an early stage.

Aspect 2: substances of concern

Ensuring that banned substances are not used and reducing the use of substances of concern are decisive in protecting people and the environment. This applies both to manufacturing processes and the products themselves. To efficiently manage substance restrictions and bans, especially for products, Bosch is expanding its corporate material data management for compliance and sustainability (MaCS) system. The scalable IT system makes it possible to check lists of materials used in products automatically, and to ensure compliance with regulations. It has already been successfully rolled out at several of the company’s divisions.

Organization

At Bosch, we take a holistic approach to sustainability.

The highest technical committee for sustainability is the corporate social responsibility steering committee under the aegis of the chairman of the board of management.

The strategic orientation in sustainability is developed jointly by the Communications and Governmental Affairs corporate sector and the EHS and Sustainability corporate sector.

How sustainability is organized at Bosch

From a content point of view, the Communications and Governmental Affairs corporate sector focuses on sustainability communications and stakeholder engagement. The EHS and Sustainability corporate sector is responsible for sustainability management, which comprises above all preparing concepts for further development, setting and tracking goals, and designing and accompanying programs.

Responsibility for worldwide implementation of the sustainability strategy and monitoring the respective achievement of goals rests with the specialists responsible at headquarters and in the divisions.

Focusing on what truly matters

We use a materiality analysis to determine which aspects of sustainability to focus our activities on.

We updated our materiality matrix at the end of 2019: more than 1,000 international stakeholders — including business partners, representatives of the scientific community, policymakers, the capital market, and relevant nongovernmental organizations, as well as associates and prospective job applicants — gave their assessment of the relevance of sustainability issues. The materiality matrix highlights the aspects that Bosch and its stakeholders deem to be of material relevance within the defined fields of activity.

More information on our sustainability research projects

Materiality matrix: Relevance of different sustainability topics assessed by stakeholders and by Bosch

The Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations

Especially in times of fundamental change, it is important to take responsibility for people, the environment, and society. That is why we have also committed to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which extend into 2030 and promotes sustainable development worldwide. We support these goals with our products and services by offering solutions to social challenges and finding answers to environmental and social questions. We regularly benchmark our sustainability activities against the 17 SDGs. The following are of particular relevance for our company:

Good Health and Well Being (SDG 3)
Quality Education (SDG 4)
Gender Equality (SDG 5)
Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6)
Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8)
Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9)
Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11)
Responsible Production and Consumption (SDG 12)
Climate Action (SDG 13)

Bosch’s diverse activities also support aspects of other UN goals.

Further information on the SDGs

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“We act prudently and responsibly for the benefit of society and the environment.”

Sustainability strategy

“We want to take action wherever it will be most beneficial for the environment and society.”

Torsten Kallweit, Head of EHS and Sustainability at Bosch