To maintain focus on climate change during the pandemic, Electrolux made a number of calls to action and climate leadership commitments during 2020.

Aligning coronavirus recovery with climate science

In the spring, as people in many countries were in lockdown, work on economic aid and recovery packages in response to the pandemic was ramped up. Electrolux joined 155 major companies in signing a statement from the Science Based Target initiative, urging policy makers to align their recovery plans with the latest climate science.

“The coronavirus pandemic has forced business into unprecedented territory, but we believe that addressing climate change is as urgent as ever," said Jonas Samuelson, Electrolux President and CEO. “We will continue to strive for reduced emissions from our operations and products as we provide appliances that are essential for better and more sustainable living around the world.”

In 2018, Electrolux was one of the first 100 companies in the world to establish approved Science Based Targets to reduce CO₂ emissions from its operations by 80% and emissions from products by 25% by 2025. In addition, Electrolux has set a company target to be climate neutral by 2030 with zero carbon emissions from its operations.

Securing supplier climate commitment

In 2020, Electrolux secured commitments from its top 200 suppliers to disclose emissions and set targets through the CDP Supply Chain Program. The company has worked closely with its suppliers to improve their environmental footprint and its top suppliers – accounting for 80% of its global purchasing spend – have begun reporting to the environmental non-profit CDP.

“We see our suppliers as an extension of our company and believe we need to have the same sustainability ambitions in our supply chain as we do in our own operations,” explains Peter Truyens, SVP Group Purchasing. “Suppliers are clearly buying into this message and are really enthusiastic about joining this journey.”

At the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit in New York, Electrolux joined a global movement to pledge net zero emissions throughout its value chain by 2050, to help limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

Business leadership for a climate neutral society

In September 2020, Electrolux joined more than 170 European businesses, investors and business networks, calling on EU leaders to sharpen emission reduction targets and deliver on the EU ambition to become climate neutral by 2050. The call to policymakers was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, a figure necessary to increase the pace for the EU to become a climate-neutral continent by 2050.

In an open letter coordinated by the Corporate Leaders Group Europe, CEOs from across the continent outlined their determination to work with the EU to tackle the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic while delivering a more climate-resilient recovery.

“Climate change remains one of the most urgent challenges for society and we all need to accelerate our actions to reach the 1.5-degree ambition set up in the Paris Agreement,” says Samuelsson. “Electrolux is committed to become climate neutral in its operations by 2030 and across our value chain by 2050. We encourage EU heads to sharpen their emissions reduction targets and deliver on the EU ambition to become climate neutral by 2050.”