Firmenich Joins RE100 and Reaches 100% Renewable Power Across Its European and US Manufacturing Sites

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GENEVA, January 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

Firmenich is proud to have joined RE100, a global initiative of the world's most influential companies, all committed to 100% renewable power. Today, Firmenich manufacturing sites in the U.S. and Europe are operating with 100% renewable electricity, as the Group gets closer to meeting its ambitious goal of 100% renewable electricity across all of its production sites by 2020. Firmenich joins more than 160 major businesses in the global RE100 initiative, which is led by the international non-profit "The Climate Group" in partnership with "CDP". Other members of the RE100 include Google, Lego, Apple and Nike.

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"With all of our manufacturing sites in the U.S. and Europe currently 100% powered by renewable electricity, I am confident we will reach our goal of 100% for all our sites worldwide by 2020," said Gilbert Ghostine, CEO Firmenich. "It is critical that business partners together to tackle climate change with a sense of urgency, which is why we have joined RE100 and the 160 world-class companies committed to driving the world's economy towards sustainability."

"In 2018, 78% of our global electricity came from renewable sources, and we are on our way to reach 90% of renewable electricity globally in 2019," added Jane Sinclair, Head of Legal & Compliance and General Counsel, Firmenich. "Our teams are fully dedicated to fighting the urgent climate crisis and scaling up our actions with other like-minded companies in the RE100 initiative."

"By joining RE100 and committing to source 100% renewable electricity by 2020, Firmenich is proving that it's possible for big businesses to set ambitious targets that speed up the global transition to clean energy," said Sam Kimmins, Head of RE100, The Climate Group. "This is the kind of corporate climate leadership that will help us stay below 1.5 degrees global warming and deliver a robust, sustainable economy."

"To achieve our goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2020, we are not only relying on the purchase of green electricity, we are also collaborating with our suppliers to develop onsite clean solutions such as wind power and solar energy," commented Neil McFarlane, Senior VP Quality, Health, Safety, Security & Environment, Firmenich. "We look forward to partnering with RE100 and its member companies to push our thinking and help ease the transition towards a more sustainable global economy."

In 2015, Firmenich announced its ambitious Environmental Goals for 2020 as well as its vision to become a carbon neutral company. In addition to committing to 100% of electricity from renewable sources or offsets, Firmenich is targeting a 20% reduction in absolute CO₂ emissions and a 25% decrease of water use in water stressed areas. Taking its ambitious 2020 environmental goals to the next level, the perfume and taste company is also one of only 149 companies worldwide to have approved science-based targets. In joining the "Science Based Targets initiative" the Swiss company committed to reducing absolute Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions by 39% and Scope 3 emissions by 20% by 2030.

Learn more about Firmenich's 2020 environmental goals and commitments to climate change management in its "Performance and Sustainability Report 2018." To view it, click here.

About Firmenich
Firmenich is the world's largest privately-owned perfume and taste company, founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1895. Driven by its purpose to create positive emotions to enhance wellbeing, naturally, Firmenich has designed many of the world's best-known perfumes and tastes, bringing delight to over four billion consumers every day. Renowned for its world-class research and creativity, as well as its leadership in sustainability, each year, Firmenich invests 10% of its turnover in R&D to understand and share the best that nature has to offer responsibly. Firmenich had an annual turnover of 3.7 billion Swiss Francs at end June 2018. More information about Firmenich is available at http://www.firmenich.com

About RE100
Led by The Climate Group in partnership with CDP, RE100 is a collaborative initiative bringing together the world's most influential businesses committed to 100% renewable power. Renewables are a smart business decision, providing greater control over energy costs while helping companies to deliver on emission reduction goals. RE100 members, including Global Fortune 500 companies, have a total revenue of over US$4.5 trillion and operate in a diverse range of sectors - from information technology to automobile manufacturing. Together, they send a powerful signal to policymakers and investors to accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy. RE100.org | #RE100 | [email protected]

SOURCE Firmenich