AkzoNobel

AkzoNobel
Quick Facts
Type	Public
sector	Chemicals
Headquarters	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Year of Origin	1994
Emissions (All Scopes)	12.8 Megatons of CO2 (2020)
Total Revenue	XXX
Stock Exchange	Bijv. Amsterdam
Key People	Thierry Vanlancker (CEO) Nils Smedegaard Andersen (Chairman)
Number of Employees	XXX
Subsidiaries	Dulux Sikkens Interpon International

AkzoNobel N.V., stylized as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational company manufacturing paint and performance coating. The company has a long history of merges and divestments and was founded in 1994 when Akzo (a Dutch chemicals company) and Nobel (a Swedish chemicals and weapons manufacturer famous for being majority owned by Alfred Nobel) merged. AkzoNobel is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and has activities in over 150 countries, employing about 32.000 people. It is the fifht largest paint and coating company worldwide.

Company Structure

Board of Directors

AkzoNobel's company management is organized under Dutch law in a two-tier system, comprised of a board of management and a supervisory board.

Board of Management

• Thierry Vanlancker (CEO)
• Maarten de Vries (CFO)

Supervisory Board

• Nils Smedegaard Andersen
• Bryon Grote
• Dick Sluimers
• Jolanda Poots-Bijl
• Dr. Pamela Kirby
• Patrick Thomas

Accountant

AkzoNobel has PricewaterhouseCoopers Accountants N.V. as an external accountant.

Main Activities

The main activities of AkzoNobel are the production and selling of decorative paints, industrial coatings, automotive and specialty coatings, marine and protective coatings and powdered coatings. Their activities are distributed under a large number of brands and subsidiaries active all over the world. Some big names include Dulux, International, Sikkens and Interpon.

AkzoNobel has its common shares listed on Euronext Amsterdam and is listed in the AEX index. The majority of its shareholders are from the UK and US.

Government

To what extent can the government influence company policy? (shareholder, licensing authority, client etc.) Has company received NOW support or royal status?

Paris Agreement to Today

What has company done or refused to do since the Climate Accord of Paris? Per company, where applicable refer to research on the benefits of fossil companies in the form of subisidies etc.

Financial Results since 2015

This tabel is meant to indicate that the companies have plenty of money to make their company more sustainable. Clearly distinguish between Dutch data and international data.

Financial situation

Year	Revenue	Profit	Dividend
2015	XXX Billion EUR	XXX EUR	XXX EUR
2016	XXX Billion EUR	XXX EUR	XXX EUR
2017	XXX Billion EUR	XXX EUR	XXX EUR
2018	XXX Billion EUR	XXX EUR	XXX EUR
2019	XXX Billion EUR	XXX EUR	XXX EUR
2020	XXX Billion EUR	XXX EUR	XXX EUR
2021	XXX Billion EUR	XXX EUR	XXX EUR

Scandals and controversies

Any dirt on the companies can be added here.

Current Emissions

Total emissions XXX Megatonnes of CO2 (2020)

Scope 1	Scope 2	Scope 3
XXX Megatonnes of CO2 (2020)	XXX Megatonnes of CO2 (2020)	XXX Megatonnes of CO2 (2020)

The reported Co2 emissions of their scope 1 operations are 51.16 Kton (2020). Their reported scope 2 emissions are 168.2 Kton (2020). The emissions from their total value chain are a lot higher. For 2020 AkzoNobel reported that their craddle to grave carbon footprint (scope 1, 2 and 3) is 12.8 Mton. 5.9 Mton of this is attributed to purchased goods and services (scope 3 upstream) and 6.7 Mton to the processing, use and end-of-life treatment of sold products and VOC (scope 3 downstream).

Climate Policy and Plans

AkzoNobel has set as their target to reduce carbon emissions from their own operations and total value chain by 50% by 2030 (baseline 2018) and claims to allign their sustainability ambitions with the Paris agreement. By 2050 it aims to run their operations on 100% renewable energy and to reduce their carbon emissions with 100%. Whether their 2050 ambition includes their scope 3 emissions is not clear.

Since 2018 the emissions of their own operations (scope 1 and 2) have decreased by 22%, their scope 3 emissions by about 10.5%.

AkzoNobel has listed a couple of strategies to reduce their carbon footprint of their own operations. First of all the company is investing in solar panels to be able to run their operations with renewable energy. So far it has installed over 10.000 solar panels at 17 different sites. However, as the company admits, solar generated electricity will not be sufficient on itself cover its total electricity consumption needs. Te second strategy is to lower energy consumption, aiming for a 30% reduction by 2030. For their scope 3 emissions, which account for about 98% of their total emissions, AkzoNobel has not put forward any strategies to lower their carbon emissions.

Due Diligence

Keep the broader context in mind. Is the company integer when it comes to deforestation, palm oil, biodiversity, human rights etc etc? Be critical in the sources used here.

Conclusion

Although the 2030 ambitions of AkzoNobel meet the standards of the Paris Agreement its 2050 ambitions are not specific enough to do so since it does not specify whether the 100% reduction of emissions also includes their scope 3 emissions. Furthermore AkzoNobel does not show enough concrete plans to convincingly indicate that they will reach their targets. Although several policies are in place to reduce emissions from their own operations, with limited results, AkzoNobel has not disclosed any concrete plans to tackle their scope 3 emissions. Since their scope 3 emissions are by far the largest share of the total emissions (about 98%) it must be concluded that AkzoNobel does not have sufficient plans and strategies in place to meet their own ambitions and the targets set by the Paris Agreement. In order to commit itself to stay below the 1,5 degrees AkzoNobel needs to develop a concrete strategy to reduce their scope 3 emissions.