Article series on Konecranes' strategy:
In 2023, Konecranes published a renewed strategy for the coming years, driven to answer global calls for businesses to contribute positively to a more resilient and sustainable economy. Advancing responsible business has been identified as one of the key enablers in this renewed strategy.
The current climatic changes pose significant existential threat to humanity. Businesses are being challenged to do their part in mitigating this threat, and Konecranes wants to lead the way forward.
We take a holistic approach to sustainability, addressing issues from climate change to ensuring safety, respecting human rights, fostering diversity and inclusion, and promoting responsible business practices. We have invested in responsible business practices to enable a future where people and businesses can continue to operate in.
Ambitious targets for climate action
We have set ambitious 1,5C ambition aligned targets for climate action and are well on our way to meet them.
Following our successes in 2022, when we reached the aim to power all our factories with 100 percent renewable electricity and reached the science-based targets for scope 1 and 2, we're set on a new target: carbon neutral operations by 2030. In our own operations we continue investing in energy efficiency within the manufacturing network and vehicle fleet as well as further expand the utilization of the renewable energy at our sites. We accelerate lean thinking and focus on increasing the recycling rate.
Our value chain emissions (Scope 3) target is to reduce absolute carbon emissions also by 50% including our sold products and steel-related purchases by 2030.
We enable a decarbonized and circular world
The energy consumption of our products is the biggest contributor to our climate impact. This, we see as an opportunity: by introducing new technological innovations, applying smart product design, and optimizing material flows with automation and digital solutions we can help our customers achieve their low-carbon goals. Konecranes has steadily expanded its offering of electric and hybrid products, with the last remaining diesel-fueled product lines within the lift truck business to be made available electrically by 2026. Our design strategies prioritize maintainability, durability, energy efficiency and lead to creating products with maximized lifecycle value.
Circular economy aims to get more value from existing products and optimizing resource use within industries, for example by utilizing recycled instead of virgin materials wherever possible. We see a great deal of potential in the interplay between digitalization and the circular economy. We can reduce and optimize the need to move goods and people when we use real-time data to predict maintenance needs. Connected devices and online platforms provide data on the state of components in real time, showing when to maintain, replace or repair components and thus leading to a smarter use of resources and longer product lifecycles.
A safe and diverse workplace with a culture built on responsible business conduct
Safety is at the core of who we are at Konecranes, and prioritizing it in all areas of our activities gives us a competitive advantage. We build safe and secure material flows for our customers with our products, solutions and services. Our work in managing safety starts from our own employees but extends beyond the company’s boundaries, covering our product offering, our suppliers, subcontractors and everyone we work with. With the help of our products, solutions and services, our customers not only enhance safety but also improve the efficiency and productivity of their operations. This includes cyber security, which is an essential part of our products’ safety features, enabling safe work and undisrupted production.
Beyond product safety, we strive for a safe working environment for all employees. We integrate safety and security in all our operations, including manufacturing, installations and maintenance, office, and remote work as well as travel.
Commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is central in creating our working environment. We believe that diversity brings the best results. We respect human rights, advocate for fair workplace practices, and provide challenging and interesting work responsibilities for career development. Our Code of Conduct serves as our ethical compass, guiding our business processes without exception.
We have a holistic approach to managing risks, ensuring we minimize negative impacts while maximizing the positive ones. Our commitment to integrity and ethical standards goes beyond legal compliance requirements, addressing ethics, compliance, and human rights risks in our operations and supply chain. We expect high ethical standards or ourselves and our business partners.
Learn more about our strategy, and read the other articles in this series:
Read more about Sustainability at Konecranes:
