Driving sustainability: Building on 2024’s momentum for 2025
2024 was a big year for sustainability at Siemens. We worked with industries around the world to show how digital transformation can help them achieve both operational efficiency and environmental progress. We drew inspiration from nature and applied its principles towards more sustainable design and manufacturing. And of course, Siemens’ sustainability report revealed the huge strides made on our path to a more sustainable future for both people and industries.
But this progress wasn’t without its challenges. Geographical, regulatory and economic issues are constantly at play, pushing us to think differently about how we approach sustainability. But instead of viewing them as setbacks, we’re understanding how they are opportunities to adopt the technologies that will inevitably play a vital role in future-proofing our business.
Here are some milestones, innovations and lessons that defined Siemens’ sustainability journey in 2024.
Realizing the road to sustainability
Overcoming resource scarcity, meeting emissions targets and fulfilling customer demands for sustainable products requires a holistic view into operations. By combining the real and digital worlds, companies can achieve transparency to remain competitive and resilient, all while advancing their sustainability agendas. And at Hannover Messe in April, we proved what we mean by that: The sustainability booth was popular with visitors that wanted to understand not only what sustainable Digital Enterprise, but also how to become a one.
Siemens had the opportunity to discuss Blendhub’s mission with its CEO, Henrik Stamm Kristensen, on stage, and was proud to convey how Siemens and AB Inbev leverage startups in the beverage sector. One highlight from this session was learning about the company’s crackers which are made with 11% upcycled beer spent gain flour – proving that innovative ideas are key to sustainable growth.
Sustainability report highlights
This year, Siemens made significant strides in sustainability. Here’s a look at some of our core accomplishments from the 2024 sustainability report:
- We achieved seven of our fourteen DEGREE targets a year ahead of schedule.
- We surpassed our decarbonization goal, reducing CO₂ emissions in our operations by 60% since 2019, well ahead of the 2025 target.
- For the first time, our products enabled customers to avoid more emissions than the company generated across its entire value chain, demonstrating our positive impact on industrial decarbonization.
We also launched our circularity framework, which has huge potential for sustainability. Astonishingly, only 13 percent of our global waste is recycled. Increasing the recyclability of products and components is critical to fostering a sustainable future. The largest levers to move from a linear to a more circular economy lie early in development – after all, waste is a design flaw. Design and simulation software, which can create a Comprehensive Digital Twin, are the keys to integrating circularity principles in a Digital Enterprise. Companies can combine the real and digital worlds to become more circular in all stages of the product lifecycle: from design to manufacturing, in use and next life.
With the introduction of the Siemens EcoTech label, an environmental product performance label designed to drive the sustainable transformation of industry and infrastructure, Siemens was able to recognize 25,000 products for sustainable design and circularity. This demonstrates active progress towards a more circular economy by improving our eco-design standard and promoting sustainable materials.
Inspired by nature, built for efficiency
While nature inspires us, technology enables us. Siemens has embodied this nature-centric mindset and has investigated how our most innovative customers reach their sustainability goals and scale innovations.
There is no shortage of examples. For instance:
Bears hibernate in the winter to conserve energy. Birds provide lessons in manufacturing by rebuilding nests each year using local materials. And the organic decomposition cycle works to break down plants into base resources to reenter the lifecycle in a circular model. Each of these examples from nature are instances we can replicate in our built environment – and we are already seeing it being done across industries.
Our customers including Chiron, Blendhub and HERU are replicating versions of these organic solutions to enhance their sustainability efforts. Siemens’ automation solutions, digital twin technology and simulation tools are major enablers of their success. Our wide portfolio of technologies is actively helping them uncover the data insights that allow them to conserve energy and reduce harmful emissions.
Continuing the momentum into 2025 and beyond
As we reflect on Siemens’ sustainability journey in 2024, we can take pride in the progress we’ve made, but we also know there’s plenty more to be done. By embracing the sustainable Digital Enterprise model and looking to nature for sustainable inspiration, we can reimagine how design and technology can work together to foster a more sustainable world. From leveraging digital twins and AI to drive efficiency, to embracing nature’s circular models to optimize resources, we’ve made sustainability a central part of our business’ DNA.
Looking ahead, we are committed to leading by example and partnering with industries to accelerate the global shift toward decarbonization and circularity. As we move forward, Siemens will continue to empower businesses with the tools and insights needed to create a more resilient, sustainable future for everyone—into the new year and for years to come.
Siemens Digital Industries Software helps organizations of all sizes digitally transform using software, hardware and services from the Siemens Xcelerator business platform. Siemens’ software and the comprehensive digital twin enable companies to optimize their design, engineering and manufacturing processes to turn today’s ideas into the sustainable products of the future. From chips to entire systems, from product to process, across all industries. Siemens Digital Industries Software – Accelerating transformation.
