Here are four things to know about Stube's expertise and Lego's sustainability strategy.
1. Business Scale and Scope: The Lego Group, founded in 1932, is based in Billund, Denmark. The company had roughly 24,500 employees as of 2021. in 2022, Lego's revenue was nearly 65 billion Danish kroner, which equates to roughly 8.7 billion euros (or US$9.14 billion).
2. Sustainability Challenges, Targets and Net-Zero Goal: Lego depends heavily on oil and fossil fuels to develop its toy bricks. The company has been striving to use alternative ingredients in the production process, but recently abandoned one oil-free brick development project. Indeed, Lego found that bricks made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET) would lead to higher carbon emissions, according to the Financial Times.
Still The Lego Group in August 2023 pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. The catch: It will take roughly two years for The Lego Group and the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) to develop a target that will cover Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions, the toy company conceded.
In the near-term, Lego's goal is to reduce GHG emissions by 37% by 2032 from a 2019 base. Moreover, the company plans to triple its environmental sustainability investments over the next three years -- lifting spending to more than $1.4 billion on sustainability-related activities. Key focus areas include:
Designing buildings and sites to be carbon neutral run.
Increasing capacity and production of renewable energy at company sites.
Taking CO2 emissions into account across all business decisions. This includes "responsible travel policies to reduce the amount of employee travel, especially international air travel."
Continuing to reinforce Engage-to-Reduce programme with suppliers to collectively reduce environmental impact.
3. Annette Stube's Expertise: Stube has more than 25 years of experience working in sustainability. She has held key posts at Swedish-Finnish renewable materials company Stora Enso, logistics giant Maersk and Novo Nordisk. She is currently a member of the presidency for WWF of Denmark, and has acted as an advisor to the Danish Government on a range of sustainability topics, Lego notes.
At Lego, Stube will lead the company’s environmental sustainability vision and strategy -- while working with operations, product development and marketing teams to deliver company-wide plans and targets, the company noted. She will also support the LEGO Group’s external environmental communications and engagement activity, the company said.
Niels B Christiansen, CEO, The LEGO Group
4. Executive Perspectives: In a prepared statement about hiring Stube, Lego CEO Niels B Christiansen said: “We are excited to have Annette join us to further advance our sustainability ambitions. Delivering on our Planet Promise is one of our most urgent and important challenges. While we have made significant progress over the past few years to reduce the impact our business has on the planet, we have much more to do. We have set ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions, make our products and packaging more sustainable and circular, and run zero impact operations. Annette has a strong track record in helping companies and governments drive systemic change which delivers lasting environmental impact.”
Added Stube: “I am excited to join the LEGO Group and be part of the team helping to create a better environment for the benefit of future generations. There are very few companies who have children as their primary customers, which reminds us that the need for change is very real and urgent. It is encouraging to see the LEGO Group prioritise investments and resources against accelerating its sustainability ambitions and I am looking forward to playing my part to deliver those.”
Lego Hires Chief Sustainability Sustainability: Why Technology Partners Should Care
By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.
Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.
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