International recognition for MVV’s climate protection targets

MVV’s climate protection targets are in line with the 1.5°C trajectory provided for by the Paris Climate Agreement and will help meet this objective. That has been confirmed by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a partnership of international nongovernment organisations (NGOs), in November 2021 following an extensive scientific review. Thus, MVV is the first German energy company to be validated by the SBTI according to the 1.5°C ambition.

“Back in 2015, we were already one of the first energy companies in Europe to sign the SBTi Charter and have consistently raised our own climate protection targets since then. With the Mannheim Model, we have now added a long-term perspective. By 2040 we will be climate neutral and after that we will actually become climate positive, i.e. remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The SBTi bases its validation on very strict scientific criteria. The validation of our climate protection targets acknowledges the efforts we have made to promote sustainability over many years now. It also provides us with even greater motivation to consistently uphold our commitment to a climate-positive future”, comments Dr. Georg Müller, Chief Executive and Commercial Director of MVV Energie AG, with regard to the SBTi validation.

The SBTi is a partnership between the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The criteria referred to by the SBTi when validating company climate protection targets are regularly adjusted in line with the latest climate research findings.

More than 80 percent less CO₂ emissions by 2030

With this validation, the SBTi has confirmed MVV’s target for 2030 of reducing its Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions by more than 80 percent compared with 2018. Furthermore, the SBTi has certified that the reduction of more than 80 percent in Scope 3 CO₂ emissions targeted by MVV for 2035 is compatible with a 1.5 °C trajectory.

Based on the criteria set out in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, emissions of greenhouse gases are divided into three categories. Scope 1 covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. Scope 2 involves indirect emissions from proprietary consumption of purchased energy. Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain, i.e. at its suppliers and customers.

Numerous national and international listings and ratings

This SBTi validation supplements a whole series of national and international projects, initiatives, listings and ratings which confirm MVV’s climate-neutral trajectory. In summer 2021, the prestigious rating agency ISS ESG awarded MVV the best rating score for the energy sector. This means that MVV is one of the world’s four most sustainable energy companies in the ISS ESG rating.

MVV, which published its first sustainability report back in 2008, took part in the 2020 Climate Protection Action Plan organised by the City of Mannheim. This approach was continued in 2021 with the adoption of the 2030 Climate Protection Action Plan, which MVV is also supporting. The Mannheim Model was presented to an international audience at the UN Climate Conference in November 2021 as a part of the local green deal initiative modelled by the City of Mannheim on the European Green Deal.

When the Economic Initiative for More Sustainability in Baden-Württemberg (WIN BW) was founded in 2013, MVV was the only representative from the energy industry to join. Not only that, in autumn 2020 MVV was also one of the first companies to sign the public climate protection agreement between companies and the State of Baden-Württemberg (BW Climate Alliance). Moreover, MVV is involved in cross-sector climate protection initiatives, such as those organised by the Climate Economy Foundation (formerly “Stiftung 2°”) – “German CEO Alliance for Climate and Economy”.