TRUMPF boosts investment in climate change mitigation by planting 30,000 trees

High-tech company TRUMPF has announced plans to plant a total of 30,000 trees by 2027 in areas of forest managed by German forestry company Fürst Wallerstein in the states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. The project will achieve significant sequestration of CO2 by capturing and storing more than 7,500 metric tons of the greenhouse gas over the next 30 years.

TRUMPF CEO Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller expressed her enthusiasm for the project at a ceremony to mark the handover of the first tree by Prince Carl-Eugen Oettingen-Wallerstein: “Trees are the world’s most natural carbon sink, so I’m very excited about the launch of this project. Having already achieved carbon-neutral production worldwide at the end of 2020, this marks yet another step forward in our climate strategy.” Prince Carl-Eugen Oettingen-Wallerstein, who manages the businesses of the Fürst Wallerstein group of companies, also praised the move: “We’re delighted to see TRUMPF investing in the forest as part of its regional carbon neutrality initiative – it's a visionary and innovative decision.”

TRUMPF’s 2030 climate strategy

The company aims to cut emissions at its worldwide locations by around half by 2030, using the figures for fiscal 2018/19 as its baseline. It also intends to achieve a 14 percent reduction in emissions in its upstream and downstream value chain by 2030. TRUMPF, which specializes in lasers and machine tools, will achieve these goals by pursuing energy efficiency measures, producing its own renewable energy from photovoltaic systems and purchasing green energy. According to its calculations, these steps will reduce its CO2 emissions by some 23,000 metric tons by the year 2030, based on an investment of some 80 million euros over the next ten years.

Additional trees increase carbon sequestration

“By planting 30,000 trees, we can increase carbon sequestration in the forest while also making a positive contribution to TRUMPF’s carbon neutrality goals“, says Christian Wippermann, managing director of the Fürst Wallerstein forestry business. Their forest management team uses seedlings of various tree species. This makes the forest more resistant to storms and dry spells, helping to stabilize the trees’ carbon sequestration rate. “We chose to embark on this collaborative project because it allows us to achieve measurable, sustainable results almost on our doorstep!" says Jürgen Schäfer, who heads up Corporate Real Estate and Sustainability at TRUMPF.

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