At the Baden-Württemberg sustainability congress, the chairman of the Bosch board of management Franz Fehrenbach called on business to do even more for climate protection, even in difficult times. The acute economic and financial crisis must not, he said, be allowed to function as a pretext for slackening efforts to combat climate change. In fact, he believed that the “green economy” also offered opportunities for overcoming the crisis.
“Climate change is also a matter of trust”, the Bosch CEO said in Stuttgart, pointing out that especially German industry had set itself the objective of protecting the climate. Now, however, it was imperative that these issues should not be put onto the back burner simply because of the current severe economic problems – “down there at the bottom of the agenda along with all the other items to be set aside for the time being.” In Fehrenbach’s view, this would be a breach of trust. The continuing financial crisis had, he said, meant that business had already lost not only money, but also a great deal of trust. But by pursuing climate protection more earnestly and rigorously than before, he felt it could gain money and confidence.
According to Fehrenbach, every third euro of sales generated by Bosch now came from products that conserve resources and/or protect the environment. In 2008, the Bosch Group achieved sales of some 45 billion euros. It was not only studies forecasting considerable growth for environmental technology that Fehrenbach quoted to substantiate the economic opportunities offered by ecology. He also pointed out that emissions and energy-consumption standards were becoming stricter the world over – also in the emerging markets. “This ecological globalization works to our benefit,” the Bosch CEO said. The examples he gave included not only efficient vehicle drive systems, but also systems for utilizing renewable energies, from gearboxes for wind turbines, to ground-source heat pumps and solar collectors, to photovoltaics. With this broad range of products, Bosch already generated sales of roughly one billion euros in 2008.
Bosch is also redoubling its energy-saving efforts within the company itself. The new Chinese headquarters in Shanghai, for example, will cover half of its heating and cooling requirements with ground-source heat pumps. Photovoltaics arrays have already been installed at German locations such as Murrhardt or Reutlingen. By 2020, Bosch aims to cut the CO2 emissions of its plants by at least 20 percent from their 2007 level. “This is not simply an empty promise for the future,” Fehrenbach said. “Each year, we monitor the progress we make toward this target.”
And in the future, said Fehrenbach, it was self-evident for the company that it would “provide technological answers to ecological questions.” More than 40 percent of the company’s research and development budget, which for 2008 amounted to 3.9 billion euros, goes into products that protect the environment and conserve resources. One especially important factor here is the long-term nature of its innovation policy. “This is also the only way we can make a success of the electric vehicle – which will come later rather than sooner,” Fehrenbach said. But he also urged that opportunities for saving energy here and now should be used – whether with condensing boilers in the home or with the start-stop system in the car.
