Strategy

Transformational impact for the good of generations

At Henkel, we see sustainability as a constant endeavor to make progress on present topics and keep learning about new issues, based on scientific knowledge. Global climate change is one of the greatest challenges humanity is facing today, requiring urgent and ambitious action. It is also critical to protect and regenerate to life-support systems like forests, water and biodiversity, for present and future generations. At the same time, we are seeing global poverty and social inequality increase. And in the process, we acknowledge that companies like Henkel play a role in meeting these challenges and bringing about transformational change.

Responsibility for people, planet and society

Our corporate purpose defines the common ground that unites all of us at Henkel: Pioneers at heart for the good of generations. With our pioneering spirit, our knowledge, our products and technologies, we want to enrich and improve the lives of billions every day and shape a purposeful future for the next generations. Sustainable business practices have been an integral part of our company culture for decades, and are also a central element of our vision of the future. Our sustainability strategy is inspired by our purpose. We will actively drive the transformation to a sustainable economy and society, help to protect and regenerate the natural environment, contribute to strong communities and to strengthen trust with our stakeholders.

Building on our previous strategy, we developed our 2030+ Sustainability Ambition Framework in 2021 encompassing three dimensions:

Our 2030+ Sustainability Ambition Framework

Our new sustainability strategy revolves around implementing our ambitions through concrete measures and projects to achieve practical progress. With our 2030+ Sustainability Ambitions Framework, we have developed new long-term ambitions in the three dimensions of Regenerative Planet, Thriving Communities and Trusted Partner to drive further progress.

Key ambitions 2030+

Our key levers for change

We also defined how we aim to make progress across our value chain by defining three key levers to achieve systemic change:

• Products and technologies are the heart of everything we do. We create more value for our customers and consumers by constantly innovating to offer better performance with a reduced ecological footprint.
• People are the focal point for our business and our sustainability-related activities. This includes our employees, who contribute to sustainable development – through their expertise in daily work and in their private lives. It also includes the people in our supply chain, our customers and consumers, our neighbors, our shareholders and the communities we operate in.
• Partnerships play a decisive role in driving sustainability in our value chain and beyond. We help our customers and consumers to reduce their ecological footprint and to use re-sources responsibly. We work together with our suppliers to promote sustainable practice and respect of human rights, and we cooperate with partners to share knowledge and drive systemic solutions forward together.

Identifying relevant topics

To determine and categorize relevant topics for our business activities and reporting, we engage in a continuous process of recording and evaluating the challenges and opportunities of sustainable development using various tools. We assess the importance of the topics for the company, environment and society, and also for our stakeholders. The results of this process can be broken down into the three dimensions of Regenerative Planet, Thriving Communities and Trusted Partner, each with three themes that we identified in a materiality analysis. In these nine topic areas, we want to drive sustainable development around the world and along the value chain with our business activities.