Siemens BeLux moves towards zero emissions with CO₂ Performance Ladder 4.0

The Belgium and Luxembourg branches of the Siemens Group – Siemens NV and Siemens Mobility NV – received a certificate for Step 2 of the CO₂ Performance Ladder 4.0 at the start of 2026. By electrifying its vehicle fleet and moving to a new zero-emission office, the company is taking major steps towards becoming zero-emission by 2030. However, the switch to locally-generated green electricity and the mapping of emissions from supply chain partners still require attention.  

As a supplier of technological solutions for industry, infrastructure and transport, Siemens makes a significant contribution to the energy transition. According to Toon Wassenberg, sustainability manager at Siemens Mobility NV, sustainability is at the heart of their business. “All our services and products are focused on maximising energy efficiency and minimising energy consumption. The green narrative is woven throughout the entire organisation: from the international holding company right down to subsidiaries operating at a national level. We believe it is important not only to make an impact with our products, but also as an organisation itself. That is why we have strong ambitions in the field of climate action. We use the CO₂ Performance Ladder to support this.” 

Ready for the first tender using the Ladder

The fact that Siemens Mobility’s Dutch sister company has been certified on the CO₂ Performance Ladder for over ten years gave the Belgian-Luxembourgish branch a nudge in the right direction, says Wassenberg. “In the Netherlands, the certificate has already regularly given Siemens an advantage in winning tenders. Although our main customers in Belgium have not yet specified the Ladder in a tender, this may well happen in the coming years. We are already seeing references to the Ladder in our costumers’ communications. By getting certified now, we’ll be ready when the time comes and won’t be caught off guard by a tender. If we have to set everything in motion at that stage, we’ll be too late and risk missing out on a contract.” 

Getting started with the new version of the Ladder

Siemens BeLux decided to get started straight away with the newest version of the CO₂ Performance Ladder, version 4.0. They were guided in this by an external consultant, says Sam Deckmyn, who is responsible for the CO₂ Performance Ladder within Siemens NV: “We already wanted to pursue ISO 14001 certification, the environmental management system, for both organisations. We were also guided by a consultant in this. It seemed logical to us to include the Ladder straight away. There is, in fact, significant overlap between the two management systems when it comes to carbon footprints, targets and actions, and we wanted to end up with a single integrated action plan for the environment, energy and climate. The Ladder helps us to structure everything relating to the carbon footprint and is actually slightly more ambitious in this respect than ISO.” 

Advice on getting started with Step 2

The consultant provided Siemens BeLux staff with in-house training on how to use the CO₂ Performance Ladder. Deckmyn: “This also enabled us to get to grips with the Ladder ourselves. The consultant also looked at what we were already doing in terms of CO₂ reduction. Based on this, he advised us to aim for Step 2, which focuses on CO₂ reduction within our own organisation and the supply chain. Step 1 – which focuses solely on emissions within the organisation – would, in fact, be insufficiently ambitious he thought. At the same time, he considered Step 3 – zero emissions by 2050 for all scopes – not yet feasible given the complexity of our supply chains.” 

Electrifying the vehicle fleet and making real estate more sustainable

Around three-quarters of Siemens BeLux’s scope 1 and 2 emissions come from the vehicle fleet. The company is currently working on making the fleet greener, says Deckmyn. “Our goal is to fully electrify the vehicle fleet by 2030. This is in line with the ambitions of the head office in Germany. We are currently well on track to achieve this. But electric driving alone is not enough. The Ladder encourages us to also look at energy reduction, which I think is a positive aspect. From that perspective, we are considering ways to encourage colleagues to drive more economically, for example. We also want to facilitate group purchases for employees who wish to switch to green electricity at home, so that they can charge their cars sustainably there too.” In addition, Siemens BeLux is working on making its real estate more sustainable, the other major emitter within scope 1 and 2. A move to a state-of-the-art, fully emission-free building on the outskirts of Brussels is planned for 2028. 

Engaging colleagues in sustainability through gamification

To foster engagement and support for sustainable behaviour among colleagues, Siemens is exploring the possibilities of gamification. Deckmyn gives an example of this. “You could think of tracking the total number of kilometres driven at company level and how this evolves. We can then link this to the cost of energy, so we can see how much money we save each year by driving less or more efficiently. To make it even more fun, we could spend this money at the end of the year on a charity or a staff party, for example. That way, by behaving sustainably, you’re not only giving something back to the planet, but also to your colleagues.” Wassenberg adds: “The main thing is not to come across as preachy. So we’re not going to say: you mustn’t accelerate quickly at traffic lights or drive to the bakery by car, but rather look at how we can get people on board in a positive way.” 

Local green electricity is still a challenge

Although Siemens BeLux is making great strides towards becoming a fully climate-neutral organisation by 2030, Deckmyn says there are still some challenges. One of the biggest of these is sourcing locally generated green electricity. “Under our current energy contract, we get electricity from Norwegian wind farms, amongst other sources. According to the European definition, that is green electricity, but the CO₂ Performance Ladder applies a stricter standard. For this, the electricity must be generated within the country itself. In a small country like Belgium, that is quite a challenge. We are looking at how we can get this up to 100 per cent in the coming years. The fact that we are part of an international corporation makes it particularly challenging, as contracts with energy suppliers are often concluded on a large scale.” 

Mapping emissions from supply chain partners

Step 2 requires organisations to look not only at emissions within their own organisation, but also beyond it, in scope 3. This means that Siemens must collect data on emissions throughout the supply chain. Logistics is a key part of this, says Wassenberg. “The first step here is to collect data on who transports our products and materials, how this is done and what the associated emissions are. Based on that data, we can identify what actions are needed to make this more sustainable. For example, by switching all transport to electric vehicles. The big question is how to do that. Are we going to require our suppliers to electrify everything? And what will this cost? The Ladder forces us to work all this out and quantify it. On the one hand, this means we have our work cut out for us, but at the same time it ensures that we link concrete actions to our goals and ambitions and that results are measurable. This allows us to be accountable and keep challenging ourselves.” 

Not always full control over the supply chain

The products that Siemens BeLux sells to customers in Belgium and Luxembourg usually come from its own sister companies within the Siemens Group. As a result, Siemens BeLux does not have full control over making the supply chain more sustainable. Wassenberg: “We can certainly access data on a product’s carbon footprint, but discussions with suppliers about how we can reduce that footprint often go through head office. We can’t simply decide for ourselves which supplier to buy from. Fortunately, it helps greatly that the Siemens Group is just as ambitious as we are when it comes to climate and energy. Strong targets have been set from the top down to decarbonise the entire supply chain, and that automatically translates to our products. It’s just that it’s sometimes difficult to determine what lies within our control and where we have little or no influence.”

Ladder boosts collaboration

What Wassenberg really likes about the Ladder is that the tool boosts collaboration with partners. “We have been a member of Agoria, the Belgian employers’ organisation for technology companies, for years. This is a great platform for exchanging knowledge and ideas, for example in the field of sustainability. Thanks to the CO₂ Performance Ladder, discussions are now even more focused on CO₂ reduction than before. The Ladder also brings more structure, rhythm and systematic approach to our collaboration. It challenges us to commit fully to CO₂ reduction.” 

Customers’ avoided emissions

In the coming period, Siemens plans to train its sales force to highlight sustainability benefits even more effectively. According to Deckmyn, this also yields environmental benefits for customers. “If we can automate or electrify an industrial process, it helps the customer to reduce their own CO₂ emissions. Although we are not strictly required to report on emissions outside the supply chain – the other influenceable emissions (OIEs) – for the CO₂ Performance Ladder, we do try to provide as much transparency as possible regarding these. From head office, the target is to avoid a total of 1 million megatonnes of CO₂ emissions by 2030 compared to the base year of 2023. We are currently already at 694,000 megatonnes. By communicating this, we demonstrate that we are a driving force behind the energy transition.” 

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