“Precisely the change we want”: Martin Bauer Group targets climate neutrality by 2030

11 Aug 2021 --- Botanical specialist Martin Bauer Group has pledged to have no carbon footprint by 2030 “at the latest.” Strategies include regenerative farming and limiting business travel when possible.

All companies within MB-Holding’s global Nature Network will adopt the same sustainability targets. The Nature Network consists of four divisions based on botanicals for food, health and wellness, including Martin Bauer Group, Finzelberg, PhytoLab and Europlant Group.

The Nature Network is taking a three-prong approach to achieve carbon neutrality in more than 30 locations across the world and the supply chain. Its approach is based on measurement, prevention and compensation of emissions, with a focus on limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

“This is precisely the kind of change we want to achieve as we grow our group of companies and supply chains,” says Gisbert Braun, head of group sustainability – social and environment.

Reducing emissions at the farm
Supply chains and primary products often play a decisive role in a company’s overall environmental impact.

Martin Bauer Group uses green electricity from wind and solar power in offices, warehouses and production plants in Germany.Anne Wedel-Klein, member of the MB-Holding’s executive board, observes that around half of the company’s emissions originate at the farm level. 

“Our climate-neutral business activities will begin on the fields, where our more than 200 raw materials, such as tea, peppermint, hibiscus, chamomile and fennel grow.”

The Nature Network works with more than 400 raw material partners throughout the world and has only an indirect influence on their emissions. 

Nevertheless, Martin Bauer Group is applying its zero-emissions target there too, with the same deadline of 2030. That is by no means simple, notes the company. 

Partners must be persuaded, integrated and enabled by means of a step-by-step plan. Martin Bauer Group will support them in calculating their emissions and then identifying the most effective levers for reducing them. 

Implementing climate-neutral practices 
While some emissions are unavoidably created in agricultural supply chains, there are opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions in agriculture by adapting certain cultivation methods and management practices. 

Targeted crop rotation, digging plant remains into the soil, careful and targeted use of fertilizers, the planting of hedges and shade trees, and many other measures can help to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, improve biodiversity and increase farmers’ productivity.

Targeting crop rotation and the use of compost can help reduce the carbon footprint of agriculture.Joint strategies will be developed and implemented by sharing know-how and best-practice experience with partners. 

Many of the raw material partners are already making good progress, while others are only just beginning, the company supports. 

Embracing renewables 
The Nature Network has already made some strides in climate-neutral business practices at its global locations. 

Martin Bauer Group uses green electricity from wind and solar power in offices, warehouses and production plants in Germany; all the sites throughout the world will do the same by 2025.

Each site is making its own contribution toward the Group’s joint reduction target through energy-saving programs, for example, and investments in CO2-reduction technology.

Measuring, reducing and compensating
Martin Bauer Group and the entire Nature Network will use the following three-pronged approach to keep its global emissions to a minimum:

1. Measure:  Martin Bauer Group will calculate all emissions produced by its business operations, including its global supply chains, to yield its corporate carbon footprint. This number will be calculated at the end of 2021 and audited by an independent body. From 2022 onward, developments will be presented annually to make progress transparent.

2. Prevent/reduce: The Group’s top priority is to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are prevented. For instance, the Group is avoiding business trips whenever digital technology suffices. To achieve its target, it is also improving energy efficiency at its production plants, implementing energy-saving programs and promoting environmentally friendly mobility.

3. Compensate: The Group will only compensate for greenhouse gas emissions that cannot be prevented or reduced. Most notably, it will play an active role in its own agricultural supply chains with innovative concepts like compost management, humus formation in the soil and sustainable carbon sequestration.

Eating for the planet
Other businesses are also targeting more sustainable operations. For example, early childhood nutrition company Gerber revealed its latest target to certify 100 percent of its organic line and its natural pouches and glass jars as carbon neutral by 2022, followed by the rest of the portfolio in 2035.

Moreover, Microphyt recently announced it would build the “world’s largest microalgae biorefinery” to produce health and nutrition ingredients while also acting as a carbon sink. 

By Missy Green