Climate Protection

Developing and implementing robust data is a key prerequisite for informed decisions and targeted action towards decarbonization.

As part of our climate protection strategy, WAGO has systematically determined its complete Corporate Carbon Footprint for the first time, taking 2023 as base year. This footprint includes all Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions for all international production and sales locations, as well as subsidiaries.

In collaboration with all relevant departments, we have used this data to develop our medium- and long-term climate targets. Climate protection is a central element of our corporate responsibility. Therefore, we pursue ambitious, realistic science-based climate targets that focus on the factors we can actually influence. We have a clear, measurable reduction strategy in line with the standards of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).

A central component of our climate strategy is the “Energy Transformation” project. The goal is to gradually switch the power supply at all our large locations over to renewable and climate-neutral sources, with a focus on decarbonizing purchased energy (Scope 2) and electrifying heat generation (Scope 1). This will be implemented on a country-specific basis, taking a two-stage approach: In the long term, we aim to meet 30 to 50 % of our electricity demand from our own generation (e.g., solar and wind power) and obtain the remaining 50 to 70 % from sources with high-quality Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) in line with the RE100 standard.

The first decarbonization pathway we developed was for heating at the Minden location and includes measures such as the optimizing ventilation technology, implementing free cooling and switching to renewable heating systems. This project should also serve as a model for our other sites. The initial implementation in Germany and China has already succeeded in reducing Scope 1 and 2 energy-related emissions by around 35 % in 2024 compared to the base year.

One focus is on emissions from purchased goods and services (Scope 3.1), which are responsible for around 60 % of our total emissions. We are currently working to establish the structural conditions necessary to effectively influence climate protection along the supply chain through the targeted expansion of climate-relevant purchasing criteria and by setting up strategic partnerships with our suppliers.

In the next step, we want to identify specific areas of potential in order to develop concrete reduction approaches in cooperation with suppliers. Possible approaches include using more lower-emission materials and improving data availability in the supply chain. The goal is to make climate-related impacts along our upstream value chain measurable and to systematically integrate this information into future procurement decisions.

Evaluating and reducing the environmental impacts of our products is a central lever for climate protection. In 2023, we determined the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) of our 221 Series Splicing Connectors and the Green Range for the first time, basing the calculation on the international ISO 14040/14044 standards, in cooperation with Fraunhofer IEM. These analyses will serve as the basis for automated calculation of other products’ PCFs.
We are currently working on our first Environmental Product Declaration (type III EPD) for standardized disclosure of the environmental impacts of selected electronic components. In contrast to the PCF (type II EPD), which primarily reflects climate impacts, this includes additional environmental impacts, such as acidification, eutrophication and resource consumption.In pilot projects, we are also investigating technological options for automated calculation and provision of environmental information and targeted integration of standardized metrics into digital services. Initial experience has demonstrated the feasibility of automation when product data is available in a structured and accessible form.

A key result of our work so far is that it is already possible to provide environmental information like PEFs for certain products through various digital channels. These include our eShop and our Asset Administration Shell Portal (AAS). In the latter, around 7,000 new data sets for rail-mount terminal blocks were added this year. These include digitally stored environmental metrics, available in a transparent, structured form. The stored information can be accessed directly from our partners’ systems via APIs and has already been integrated into customer tools at the Hannover Messe trade show, for example.