Environment

This section zooms in on the company’s environmental risks and impacts. Supported by facts and figures, it shows how HUBER+SUHNER works to keep its environmental impact as low as possible, while also actively managing the risks and opportunities in the context of the transition to a more environmentally friendly economy. In continuously reducing our environmental impact, we pursue ambitious emission reduction and resource efficiency targets.

Environmental footprint

Since 2009, HUBER+SUHNER has used life cycle analysis (LCA) to determine its environmental performance and significant environmental impacts as required by the ISO 14001 standard. Since 2022, all HUBER+SUHNER sites have reported data on energy consumption and employee commuting. Data on raw materials, commercial goods, internal transport, customer deliveries, and business travel were sourced from central systems. For more details on methodology, please refer to the addendum.

Sustainable products

We continuously explore and adopt safer alternatives to hazardous materials, complying with evolving regulations such as the EU REACH regulation to ensure product safety and environmental protection. HUBER+SUHNER adheres to international standards, including the EU's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directives. In line with our sustainability goals, we take proactive measures to ensure compliance with local and global regulations. We work closely with suppliers to align with these regulations and meet our customers’ environmental expectations. We invest in innovation to stay ahead of substance obsolescence, such as lead, and have introduced lead-free connectors. Additionally, we have developed tools to track substances and materials in our products, enhancing transparency and ensuring compliance. These efforts reflect our commitment to environmental stewardship and regulatory compliance.

Resource use

In 2022, we introduced three global reduction targets to monitor resource efficiency as part of our environmental management. These targets include the intensity of total energy consumption, the intensity of waste sent to landfill or incineration, and the total water withdrawal.

We are actively working on reducing material consumption and using more sustainable materials. In 2024, we continued to reduce plastics in our packaging with the introduction of paper bags to replace 3 million single-use plastic bags for fiber optic cables. This change resulted in a reduction of 33 tons of CO2-eq emissions.

Table 3: Resource use targets

Due to the relocation of one of our Swiss sites, we have exceeded our target for water withdrawal for the second consecutive year. Additionally, we achieved a 4.6 % reduction in energy consumption from the previous year and a 0.4 % reduction from our baseline, despite the continuous ramp-up of our energy-intensive production of ADAS antennas in two locations. Despite an overall increase from our baseline in waste sent to landfill/incineration, we managed to reduce this by 2 % from the previous year. With this turnaround, we will continue to focus on targeted local actions to further decrease waste sent to landfill and incineration. Importantly, we also achieved a 10 % year-on-year (y-o-y) reduction in total waste.

See detailed data on energy, water, materials consumption and waste in the environmental performance indicators table.

Climate change mitigation

To mitigate our impact on global warming, HUBER+SUHNER set targets in 2018 for Scope 1 and 2 emissions validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). With the target period ending in 2025, we submitted new targets for all three scopes in July 2024, which were validated by the SBTi in January 2025. The targets, which put us on a trajectory to net-zero emissions by 2050, are summarised in tables 5 and 6 below.

The company remains on track with its Scope 1 and 2 emission targets. GHG emissions in Scope 1 and 2 decreased to 6,128 t CO2-eq in 2024, an absolute reduction of 21 % y-o-y. Most notably this reduction can be attributed to:

• An increase in the share of purchased electrical energy consumed worldwide from renewable sources (hydro, wind, and solar power plants) from approximately 59 % in 2023 to 82 % in 2024
• An increase of 3 % in self-generated renewable electricity through rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panels
• Improvements in leakage prevention have resulted in a significant 62 % reduction in refrigerant loss
• A 12 % reduction in business travel

We are currently not on track with our Scope 3 target due to increasing emissions in the ‘purchased goods and services’ category, originating from project-based business at one of our sites. Emissions from our core business are slightly declining, and this remains our focus of action.

Table 5: 2025 climate target

Table 6: 2030 climate target

Refer to our environmental performance indicators table for detailed data on our emissions and energy consumption.

Our climate transition plan

In 2024, to curb our emissions in line with our climate targets, we drafted a climate transition plan that outlines our planned actions to minimise our GHG emissions. The climate transition plan is built on the following elements:

Scope 1+2

• Replacement of the remaining fossil-based heating systems with low-carbon alternatives
• Increase in renewable electricity supply to 100 % by 2030
• Installation of rooftop PV panels, where feasible
• Decarbonisation of our fleet by switching to EVs

Scope 3

• Reduction in material consumed, where feasible
• Engagement with suppliers in their climate strategies
• Life cycle assessments of our products

Figure 3: 2030 targets and transition plan

The climate transition plan, which is aligned with our science-based target is available on our website.

Transition risks and opportunities related to climate change

For HUBER+SUHNER, the transition to a low-carbon economy is primarily an opportunity. Our solutions are crucial in enabling this shift. In 2024, 34 % of our revenue came from sectors which are pivotal for the transition to a climate-friendly economy, specifically renewable energies, rail, and EVs.

When it comes to transition risks, changing customer behaviour – particularly the rising demand for climate-friendly products and materials, alongside growing costs – could pose medium-term market risks. Therefore, our transition plan enhances our resilience. We actively monitor customer preferences and engage with them proactively. Currently, the aforementioned risks are not material to our business strategy. We assess them using our standard risk management process, as described in chapter Risk management.

Figure 4: Assessment: climate-related transition risks

Physical risks related to climate change

Using our standard risk management framework, we conducted a physical climate risk assessment in 2024, utilising data from Swiss Re, the World Resources Institute, and the Climate Impact Explorer to evaluate potential impacts across various time horizons and scenarios. Initially, we focused on operational risks, with plans to include our supply chain in 2025. The assessment results are displayed in figure 5. We currently see the largest risk from river flooding. However, none of the risks analysed are of material impact to our business strategy. Insights from the site-level assessments were incorporated into local contingency planning where applicable.

Figure 5: Assessment: climate-related physical risks