Ambitious sustainability targets challenged by growth

Record breaking sales and a rise in production mean that for the first time since 2008, we experienced an increase in our water and energy consumption. These are part of the findings in our latest sustainability report.

Plenty of pumps went from Grundfos factories to customers all over the world. The higher pace of our business meant that production volume increased, which resulted in slight increases in our water and energy consumption. These are among the discoveries in our newly released Sustainability Report.

Two targeted areas that we constantly work to reduce are our water consumption and CO2 emission footprints. The increases were of 2.4 and 6.4 percent respectively compared to 2016 Despite these developments, keeping our CO2 emissions and water consumption below our 2008 levels. Our CO2 emissions are currently 23% below the 2008 level, whilst our water consumption stands at 34% below that level.

“Sustainability is a moving target. There are always areas where we can and should do better. In this year’s report, we try to show more of what we do, where we have failed, and what we want to do,” says Pia Yasuko Rask, Senior Engagement and Responsibility Manager.

Therefore, several initiatives to reduce our water and energy consumption have been introduced throughout the company, and other key focus areas, including diversity, health and safety and our support of human rights. These focus areas have been put under the microscope to find out what works and what can be improved.

Water for the world

We continue to maintain our work with our partners to supply water to resource-stressed areas around the world. Through our partnership with World Vision International, we managed to reach 700,000 people in eight countries. The first smart water dispensers were successfully installed in refugee camps in Uganda and on top of that, we joined forces with the global humanitarian organisation ADRA International, with whom we will work closely to provide access to clean water for 1.5 million people during the coming five years.

“We are implementing new business models and partnerships to accelerate our contribution to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,” says Pia Yasuko Rask.

Our work to provide water to the world’s vulnerable communities is also carried out through our employee programme, Water2Life. In 2017, the programme wrapped up its activities in Vietnam, where we helped 28,000 people gain access to safe water by supporting small, privately operated waterworks. A new project was also launched, this time focusing on supplying clean water to local hospitals and schools in Honduras.