Newday Spotlight: Novozymes
This week’s Newday Spotlight is Novozymes. Novozymes (OTCMKTS: NVZMY) is the world leader in biological solutions. They produce and sell industrial enzymes and microorganisms worldwide, and currently operate in three divisions: Household Care & Technical, Agriculture & Bioenergy, and Food & Beverages.
Newday includes Novozymes in the Global Impact Portfolio, which focuses on environmental conservation, social responsibility, and leadership and governance. The Global Sustainable Impact Portfolio invests in companies whose core business addresses at least one of the world’s social and environmental challenges, as defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
When it comes to sustainability, Novozymes refers to the their triple bottom line: sustainability means adding economic, environmental, and social value. In 2017, they helped their customers save an estimated 76 million tons of CO2 emissions thanks to the efficiency of their products. Novozymes continues to provide their customers with biological solutions that have both efficiency benefits, as well as a net positive CO2 impact.
Sustainability is integrated into every piece of their business: governance, life cycle assessments, materiality, and stakeholder engagement. In 2017, Novozymes received a special award from the Danish Institute of State Authorized Public Accountants (FSR) for its business approach and integration of the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) in its reporting. In fact, for each SDG, Novozymes has created a specific target for their company. For example, in reference to SDG #5: Gender Equality, Novozymes has a long-term target to have 30% females in Senior Management positions by 2020.
The CDP is an organisation based in the United Kingdom which supports companies and cities to disclose the environmental impact of major corporation. The CDP recently ranked Novozymes as a climate leader on its prestigious ‘A list’. Due to lower energy, water, raw material and chemical consumption, Novozymes’ products help customers with energy efficiency as well as a lower carbon footprint. They focus on mitigating climate change impacts across the value chain. They also want to keep tracking their progress. In fact, since 2004, Novozymes has used life cycle assessment (LCA) studies to assess the environmental impact of their products and processes.
As CEO Peder Holk Nielsen states “Our commitment to the UN Global Compact and its Ten Principles as well as to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has never been stronger.” But their work does not end there. They will continue to tackle climate change with purpose and strategy. By 2020, Novozymes aims to save 100 million tons of CO2 annually through customers’ application of its products.
