Global Challenges and Opportunities

Pollution, population growth, poverty: Our planet faces some big challenges – and innovative products and technologies can provide a solution by improving quality of life while consuming less resources.

Global supply chains, digital media and connected devices are making our planet feel smaller and smaller. However, they can sometimes also make the world’s challenges seem bigger than ever. While the middle class is growing worldwide, many people are still living in poverty, working in poor conditions and struggling to build a future for themselves. Alongside this, the global population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050 and humankind’s environmental footprint is already larger than our planet’s resources can sustain. That’s why it’s so important to create shared value – through innovative products and technologies that improve quality of life for people and communities, while also cutting the amount of resources consumed when making and using products.

End poverty, ensure prosperity and protect the planet

Developing tomorrow’s sustainable solutions requires active collaboration today. This spirit of collaboration is at the heart of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals ‏(SDGs) introduced by the United Nations in September 2015. These goals create a common understanding of how governments, civil society and businesses can join forces to drive progress toward ending poverty, ensuring prosperity and protecting the planet. The SDGs clearly state the challenges that need to be addressed in order to drive progress toward sustainable development.

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At Henkel, we’re committed to leadership in sustainability. Due to our long history of promoting sustainable development, as well as our broad product portfolio and presence in diverse markets, we can make a contribution to almost all of the 17 SDGs. We’re actively supporting the achievement of these goals and continuously review the targets and initiatives within our own sustainability approach to ensure they reflect the priorities set out by the SDGs.

What role do global businesses play?

Companies are in a strong position to create shared value. Alongside payments in the form of salaries and taxes, businesses contribute to promoting economic and social development as employers, purchasers and investors. They can also accelerate the transformation to a sustainable economy by creating innovative technologies and products. Imagine the resources that could be saved if every product in every home used less energy or water. Or imagine the reduction in CO₂ emissions if every vehicle on the planet was lighter and used less fuel. Resource-efficient solutions can improve the balance between the economic, ecological and social needs of people and the planet – and open up pathways to a sustainable future.

Along global value chains

Businesses are also partnering with governments and non-governmental organizations to support projects that improve income opportunities for people who come into contact with their supply chains – wherever they are in the world. The international development organization Solidaridad, for example, is teaming up with companies to support smallholder farmers of crops like oil palm. This empowers farmers to increase productivity and meet rising expectations for safety and environmental sustainability. It also ensures employment stability and improves livelihoods for workers and their families.

Man and horse on sustainable palm oil plantation in Honduras.

Raw materials

Henkel is committed to responsible management of raw materials, and especially the conservation of natural resources and biodiversity. We use ingredients based on renewable raw materials to optimize the overall characteristics of our products, wherever this is compatible with environmental, economic and social considerations. As part of this responsibility, we strive to ensure that all of the materials related to palm oil and palm kernel oil that we buy and use in our products are produced through sustainable practices.

Production

Henkel operates 185 production sites worldwide. We work continuously at all of these sites to reduce our environmental footprint while maintaining high quality and safety standards. We have set concrete targets for our production sites to maximize our impact and help steer progress toward our long-term goal to become three times more efficient by 2030.

Logistics

Reducing our emissions is an important goal within our transport and logistics concept. Optimizing our logistics footprint starts with the product development stage. We work on product and packaging optimization in terms of weight and volume, provided this is possible without compromising their performance, convenience and stability. Next to product and packaging optimization, improving our logistics structures helps us to reduce transport emissions.

Industry and commerce

We put our customers and consumers at the center of what we do. As a market leader. Our technologies are used in a uniquely diverse range of industrial and consumer applications. Our expert teams work together with our customers to develop tailor-made solutions that help them overcome the specific challenges they face in their market. Our collaboration with retailers also plays an important role. Retail groups are important partners for Henkel on the road to more sustainable consumption. They offer excellent platforms for informing consumers about more sustainable products and encouraging them to use these products in an environmentally responsible way.

Consumers

Sustainability continues to gather increasing importance for our stakeholders. Our customers and consumers, as they place more and more focus on understanding the impact of our processes and products along the value chain. Our products are used daily in millions of households. As much as 90 percent of the environmental footprint of our products is generated during their use. Therefore we seek to encourage responsible product use through targeted communication.

Disposal/Recycling

Packaging waste, and especially plastics waste and pollution have captured the attention of the public, governments, and businesses around the world. The search for solutions has started, and there is growing recognition that addressing the symptoms through clean-ups is not enough. A systemic shift tackling the root causes is required: a transition towards a circular economy. Resource consumption can be reduced if materials are kept within the cycles of the economy for as long as possible. Our mission is to include materials from sustainable sources and use a smart design to close the loop.

Shared value

Working together is the most effective method of creating shared value. That’s why companies and organizations from across industries are joining forces to encourage social progress and reduce the environmental impact of our modern way of life. The Plastic Bank is just one strong example: It’s a social enterprise that aims to stop ocean plastic and provide opportunities for people in poverty by giving them a chance to earn money or services by removing plastic waste from the environment. The plastic collected is sorted, processed and made available for recycling.

Transformation time

The earth’s resources are becoming more precious than ever, while the global challenges we face seem to grow all the time. It’s possible to find and implement solutions to these challenges – and to open up opportunities – but only if businesses and other organizations work together to create shared value while consuming less resources. By entering into strong partnerships and supporting initiatives like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, we can accelerate this transformation and develop innovative products and technologies that improve quality of life for people and communities, while also protecting the future of our planet.

Sustainable Development Goals ‏(SDGs)

The 17 UN goals represent a significant step forward in understanding the joint efforts that politics, business and society must make. Learn more on our global website henkel.com.

Henkel’s positions on complex questions

How does Henkel fulfill the REACH requirements? What does the company do to promote the idea of a sustainable palm oil production? We are committed to entering in dialog and to provide answers to such complex questions. Learn more on our global website henkel.com.