Sustainability

in everything we do

We want to leave this Earth a better place than we found it. That’s why our vision is to become the global leader in sustainable energy solutions, and why we want to integrate sustainability into everything we do.

"At Vestas, sustainability is the business we are in, it's one of the key purposes that our more than 29.000 employees come to work every day - to make the world a more sustainable place. Now - with the Vestas Sustainability Strategy, we are embedding sustainability into everything we do as we become the global leader in sustainable energy solutions"

Henrik Andersen, Group President & CEO at Vestas

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How do we define sustainability?

The concept of sustainability means being able to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

At Vestas, sustainability is grounded in our four corporate values: simplicity, collaboration, accountability and passion.

Sustainability at Vestas means reducing or eliminating negative environmental and social impacts, as well as maximising the value that our business and products provide for our customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, local communities, and the planet at large. It also means upholding sustainability in governance structures. We believe these efforts will help to elevate the standards of our industry as a whole.

Click below to read more about our Sustainability Strategy - "Sustainability in everything we do" - with four key goals.

Our Sustainability Strategy - "Sustainability in everything we do" - with four key goals

Carbon neutrality by 2030 without carbon offsets

As Vestas is committed to leading the transition to a world entirely powered by sustainable energy, we will not use carbon offsets to help us achieve carbon neutrality. Instead, we will deliver CO2 reductions through our own actions.

Carbon offsetting means that companies invest in environmental projects around the world to balance out their own carbon footprints. The problem with carbon offsets is it can be very difficult to ascertain that the projects invested in are real, measurable, permanent and that they would not have taken place without the finance provided by the sale of credits.

We want to lead the transition to renewable energy and achieve net-zero emissions in our own operations. Therefore, we will not be using offsets to achieve our goals. Renewable electricity certificates (RECs) are not considered carbon offsets. RECs guarantee that one additional MWh of renewable electricity is generated.

Taking the first steps in 2020, we have transitioned 35 percent of our corporate benefit cars to electrical vehicles or plug-in hybrids and introduced 127 sustainably fuelled vehicles to our service fleet. Our goal is that in 2025, our entire corporate fleet consists of zero emission vehicles.

We are also committing to reduce the CO2 emissions from our supply chain by 45 per cent per MWh generated by 2030. These commitments are based on recommendations from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The carbon neutrality target for our own operations was validated and approved by the SBTi, in August 2020.

Zero-waste wind turbines by 2040

Today, Vestas wind turbines are on average 85 percent recyclable. However, our wind turbine rotors (i.e. blades and hub) consist of a relatively large amount of non-recyclable composite materials.

As a first step, therefore, we will focus on improving the recyclability of all turbine rotors. We have introduced incremental targets to increase the recyclability rate of these components from 42 percent to 50 percent by 2025, and to 55 percent by 2030. We are implementing several initiatives designed to address the handling of existing blades after decommissioning, such as exploring new recycling technologies, working with material value chains as well as developing decommissioning guidelines for the wind turbine operators.

Committing to zero-waste turbines means we are aiming to create a value chain that generates no waste materials. Therefore – within two years, we will develop and implement a new waste management strategy. This strategy will take a circular economy approach to different phases of the Vestas value chain (procurement, design, production, service and end-of-life).

The safest, most inclusive and socially-responsible workplace in the energy industry

To be sustainable in everything we do, we must work even harder to ensure safety, inclusivity and social responsibility are a core part of everything we do at Vestas.

We are introducing medium and long-term targets for reducing the total recordable injury rate at Vestas to 1.5 by 2025 and 0.6 by 2030 - ensuring a 15 percent reduction in total recordable injury rate year-on-year. Additional safety initiatives will be introduced in 2020. For more details about these initiatives please download our Sustainability Report here.

A diverse workforce is comprised of a variety of social identities: This includes diversity in gender, age, culture, ethnicity, physical abilities, political and religious beliefs, sexual orientation and other attributes. Our full Diversity and Inclusion Policy is available here. As a first step, we are focusing on increasing the percentage of women in leadership positions in the company to 25 percent by 2025, and to 30 percent by 2030. Whilst we acknowledge that gender is only one form of social identity, we also believe it is a measurable and fair indication. Unconscious bias training, an external pay audit and a review of our recruitment and exit procedures include some of the initiatives we have launched in 2020 to achieve these goals.

At Vestas, building the social license to operate and conducting social due diligence based on international standards is key to being the most socially-responsible company. Vestas’ Social Due Diligence systematically identifies, quantifies, and assesses the social risks associated with Vestas’ project activities in emerging markets. Please find more information about CSR at Vestas here.

Leading the transition to a world powered by sustainable energy

This goal marks our commitment to take a leadership role in driving decarbonisation and electrification beyond the power sector.

To limit carbon emissions at a necessary scale to meet the Paris Agreement, we must also work to reduce emissions in other economic sectors – including industrial production and transport. The opportunities for Power-to-X are a great example of how we are propelling the energy transition forward. Power-to-X technologies make use of electric power in non-electricity sectors such as transport or chemicals. We strive to apply our research within hydrogen and e-fuels to drive electrification and decarbonisation in sectors where it has traditionally been difficult to achieve.

The coming years will also see Vestas pursuing more partnerships with both global and local stakeholders that can help us to amplify this agenda. This work has already begun, with Vestas joining the Getting to Zero Coalition in 2019 - an initiative to reduce CO2 emissions in the shipping sector. Please visit this interview for more details about our motivations for joining this coalition.

Another example is our partnership with Mercedes-EQ in the Formula E Championship. This is a platform well-positioned to drive electrification in the transport sector - uniting the power of sport with the power of sustainable energy.

Click here to learn more about this partnership.

"Integrating sustainability into everything we do is a part of our vision to become the global leader in sustainable energy solutions"

Lisa Ekstrand, Senior Director and Head of Sustainability at Vestas

Driving Safety, Diversity and Inclusion

Safety

How do we define safety at work?

"If a colleague is safe at work, they can perform their normal working duties without sustaining – or risking, serious injury or harm. Naturally, psychological harm is also included in this definition. The goal is also to ensure the wellbeing of our employees is not negatively impacted by their work"

Paul Robbins, Global SME on Health & Safety at Vestas

Read more below

Safety awareness training

Safety induction training is mandatory for all employees when they start working with Vestas. Depending on their location in the business, their training will be specific and appropriate to their work activities. Refresher trainings are also available for specific safety courses.

Safety walks

A safety walk is an opportunity for managers and employees in production, construction, service or administration to discuss safe behaviour. Managers tour the location in question and discuss opportunities to enhance safety on-location. This program has been running since 2007 - with more and more managers participating every year. In 2020, 26412 safety walks were conducted – meeting our ambition and expectations of 12 safety walks on average per manager annually.

Electrical safety

Global standards on “Electrical Safety” and “Control of Hazardous Energy” have been developed to eradicate electrical incidents and injuries. A range of Master Instructors in each Vestas region then works to cascade their knowledge into their part of the business.

Vestas Behavioural Change

The VBC program is an employee-led safety observation program. Where safe behaviours are encouraged, recognised and rewarded - whereas any identified at-risk behaviours are stopped, assessed and improved to mitigate the risk. Our units, functions, factories and areas that have implemented the VBC have dramatically reduced the number of reportable injuries.

Diversity and inclusion

"We must ensure that Vestas' workforce accurately reflects the societies within which we operate"

Kerstin Knapp, Executive Vice President of People & Culture at Vestas

Diversity and inclusion mission statement

At Vestas, we believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce is vital for accelerating the green energy transition globally. We know that our differences make us stronger, more innovative, and better equipped to address the challenges of the future. Therefore, we are committed to making sure that all potential, future, and current Vestas employees are guaranteed equal opportunities regardless of social identity. Everyone must feel safe, valued, and know that their voice will be heard. This journey has only just begun - together, we will keep moving forward and become sustainable in everything we do.

How are we currently performing?

Nationalities

We are proud to be a truly global company. In 2020, our company was home to over 100 nationalities.

Age

We are proud to be an intergenerational company. New, fresh insights are key to keep us driving forward as a company, while we also value those who come with extensive industry expertise and a long professional career.

Gender

Currently there is a gender imbalance in our workforce. While these numbers are unfortunately not unusual for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) industries, we are working to change this with the Vestas Sustainability Strategy. As a first step, we are focusing on increasing the percentage of women in leadership positions in the company to 25 percent by 2025, and to 30 percent by 2030. A more comprehensive explanation of the initiatives we have launched are provided below.

Our recruitment processes

We have conducted a review of our recruitment process as a first step to increase the future intake of diverse talents. The review has included topic experts from our external partner on diversity, Mercer, and our internal process owners and specialists to cover all areas of the process. The insights we have gained in this review are currently being used to update our internal recruitment procedures and practices.

E-learning for new employees

When a new employee starts with us, they are automatically assigned several e-learnings to learn more about the Vestas set-up and different processes. One of these e-learnings is called ‘Creating an Inclusive Workplace’. It gives all employees a baseline of knowledge on how we want our organisation to function, and our employees to behave in terms of inclusion and diversity. The course is divided into small modules that deal with subjects such as stereotypes and generalisations, biases and micro-inequities, as well as different aspects of diversity. While the course is automatically assigned to new employees, it is also open to all current employees who want to expand their knowledge and learn how to be more inclusive.

Reviewing our language

In 2020, we invested in software capable of scanning text to identify biased terminology - provided by Develop Diverse. The tool is up-and-running at Vestas, and all our recruiters are being measured monthly to ensure they are scanning all job advertisements before publication. The goal is to ensure that the tool is rolled out across Vestas, so that all our communication is inclusive and does not enforce biases about different social identities. This is part of ensuring more diversity in applicants and thereby increasing the diversity in our talent pipeline.

External pay audit

We have also partnered with the external diversity and inclusion experts at Mercer to conduct a full external audit of our pay equity in 7 of our main markets with focus on the pay equity between genders, nationalities and generation compared job by job. Our People and Culture (HR) Department is currently following up with the results of this audit and the actions suggested by Mercer through local engagement.

Diversity and Inclusion Partners

In each of our five Sales Business Units we have dedicated Diversity and Inclusion Partners. While the strategic direction is set by the Vestas Sustainability Strategy and executives, our partners ensure initiatives and processes are being effectively and respectfully implemented into their respective region. They use local insight to update HQ functions about local business challenges and legislative changes, and to inform local recruitment and employer branding.

Advisory board

The Vestas Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board features six core employees – each placed in a different Vestas region and business area. It is their role to advise on existing initiatives we have in place, and to use their expertise to report back on global and local trends, data and insights. Their recommendations are given to executives and subject matter owners at Vestas. The members of the board rotate after 1-2 years and have an important role as ambassadors of Diversity and Inclusion in their business area.

Diversity and Inclusion training

Currently every member of Vestas People and Culture (HR) Department hasreceived this training. By 2021, this training will become a mandatory part of all leadership and talent training at Vestas. We have partnered with Aperian global, a company specialising in diversity and inclusion tools, strategies and initiatives, to deliver this training worldwide.

Cultural awareness: GlobeSmart

Globesmart is a tool developed by the global learning vendor Aperian Global.

The tool allows you to map your own cultural and behavioral tendencies on several dimensions. This gives you an understanding of how you compare to other cultures, work-styles, and ways of communication. It can help you improve your ability to understand and motivate employees from different cultures, both at your home office and across the globe. We now provide all our employees with access to this tool and we are facilitating online trainings about how to use the tool to promote intercultural collaboration and respectful teamwork with varieties of personalities and work styles.

The Vestas D&I Policy

Our Diversity & Inclusion Policy sets standards and requirements for the conduct of our employees every day. It provides more information about diversity and inclusion, and our responsibilities as an open-opportunities hirer. Click here to read the policy.

External collaboration

Woman in Wind

Currently, only one-fifth of the global wind energy workforce identify as women, and two-thirds of them perceive gender-related barriers in the industry (IRENA and Women in Wind 2020). Women in Wind is a leadership program which promotes diversity across the wind energy industry and accelerates the careers of women in wind power; it is managed by the Global Wind Energy Council and the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition. Vestas is proud to support the Global Ambassadors for Women in Wind, championing diversity, inclusivity and sustainability around the world.

The above and Beyond Group

We are partner in The Diversity Council - a strategic corporate alliance founded in Denmark. The Council seeks to address the barriers that obstruct the advancement of more women into the top level of management in corporate leadership. This year, we are taking part in the“Lead the future” Campaign. Under the hashtag #leadthefuture, the stories of existing female executives will be shared online - showcasing role models to inspire future female leaders.

Diversity Task Force

Wind Denmark's Diversity Task Force consists of members from across the wind industry in Denmark. The task force provides a forum for best practices on diversity policies and initiatives to be shared across sectors. In 2020, special attention was being paid to how the wind industry can affect the diversity of the future talent pipeline from the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) educations.

People with disabilities

At Vestas, we are firm believers that we are stronger as a company not despite our differences, but because of them. Therefore, we make sure that our offices are all accessible regardless of physical (dis)abilities. We work to ensure we are always in compliance with current laws and regulations issued by the country in question. Efforts include, but are not limited to: elevators, ramps, toilets and parking for people with different abilities.

Promoting environmental sustainability

"Our products are powerful: not only can wind turbines significantly contribute to meeting the energy needs of the world, they are ranked as the single-most powerful means of generating energy in tackling climate change"

Neil Jones, SVP Global Quality, Safety & Environment at Vestas.

What environmental ambitions do we have?

At Vestas, our entire company is founded upon the desire to drive the energy transition. We produce best-in-class sustainable energy solutions and these are powerful drivers of environmental sustainability.

Our wind turbines are powerful because they ‘displace’ CO2 emissions that would otherwise be produced in generating electricity from fossil fuels. Avoiding the emission of CO2 is crucial to mitigate climate change. Already, our more than 132 GW of installed sustainable energy have displaced more than 1.3 billion tonnes of CO2. However, we are working to realise a world entirely powered by sustainable energy.

In 2020, we announced to be a carbon neutral company by 2030, without using carbon offsets. Read more about our strategy here.

We also announced a highly ambitious waste goal: To produce zero-waste wind turbines by 2040. Read more about our strategy here and click here to visit our blog article explaining this goal in more depth.

How can sustainable energy solutions tackle climate change?

More than 60 percent of all greenhouse gases currently emitted are linked to the energy sector (UN 2020). That means we have a huge opportunity for innovation. Currently, around 28 percent of the world’s energy supply is derived from renewable sources (IEA 2020). With this energy mix, we will not meet the Paris Climate Agreement. To limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the share of renewables in the energy mix must increase to 70-85 percent by 2050 (IPCC 2018). Rapid de-carbonisation is key if this goal is to be achieved. As the industry’s preferred partner on sustainable energy solutions, we are prepared to fuel this energy transition.

Energy payback

The energy balance of a wind power plant shows the relationship between the energy requirement over the whole life cycle of the power plant (i.e. to manufacture, operate, service and dispose) versus the energy generated by the wind power plant. This energy payback period is measured in ‘months to achieve payback’, where the energy requirement for the life cycle of the power plant equals the energy it has produced. At this ‘breakeven’ point, our wind turbines become carbon neutral.

In high winds, our V117-4.2 MW turbine is energy-neutral within 4.8 months. In medium winds, our V136-4.2 MW turbine hits this breakeven period within 6.1 months and in low winds, the V150-4.2 MW turbine will hit energy neutrality within 7.6 months. As this graph illustrates, a Vestas wind turbine (V117-4.2 MW, 136-4.2 MW, V150-4.2 MW) pays back more energy than it uses after 5 to 8 months. Oil and coal, however, consume more energy than they generate and supply to the grid and never amortise.

Return-on-energy

Alternatively, energy payback may be measured by ‘number of times payback’ – meaning, the amount of energy paid back to society versus the energy needed in the lifetime of that turbine. Over the life cycle of a V112-3.3 MW wind power plant, it will return 38 times more energy back to society than it consumed. That means that when 1 kWh is invested in a wind energy solution, you get 38 kWh in return. For coal, however, if you invest 1kWh you typically get 0.28 kWh in return.

Life Cycle Assessments

Vestas works with Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) to develop increasingly energy-efficient products whilst mitigating the environmental impacts throughout the turbine's lifetime. Since 1999, Vestas has been developing Life Cycle Assessments of wind power to provide a ‘cradle to grave’ evaluation of the environmental impacts of Vestas’ products and activities.

The studies assess a wind turbine’s entire bill-of-materials accounting for the approximately 25,000 parts that make up a wind turbine. In a Life Cycle Assessment, a complete wind power plant is assessed up to the point of the electricity grid, including the wind turbine itself, foundation, site cabling and the transformer station.

Please find all LCAs available for download.

Our product carbon footprint

Since 2010, we have been working successfully to cut our product carbon footprint (measured as grams CO2 per kWh). A ‘product carbon footprint’ essentially consists of the emissions produced during the entire life cycle of a product.

2011-2015: In the third quarter of 2015, we announced the reduction of our product carbon footprint for the V112-3.3 MW of more than 15 percent to 5.9 grams of CO2 per kWh, since 2011.

2015-2017: Then in 2015, we set a goal of a 5 percent reduction in our product carbon footprint by 2020 – from a 2015 baseline. We met this target 3 years ahead of schedule, in 2017. We had reduced our product carbon footprint by 7.1 percent on the 4MW platform wind turbines.

2017-2019: In 2017, we doubled our ambitions and set a ten percent reduction in our product carbon footprint – from a 2017 baseline. In 2019, we met and exceeded that 2020 target. The Life Cycle Assessments of the 4MW Vestas platform documented a 27 percent reduction by 2019*.

In 2020, the Vestas carbon footprint target was replaced by the new sustainability strategy with our CO2 commitments and zero-waste targets.

* Results are based on the ISO LCA reports published in November 2019 for the V117-4.2 MW, V136-4.2 MW and V150-4.2 MW

The materials we use

A Vestas V150-4.2 MW turbine is composed of around 90.6 percent steel and iron materials, metals (e.g. steel, iron, copper, alloys and aluminium), 2.7 percent polymers and the remaining a mixture of composite materials, electronics, electrical items, lubricants and fluids.

To find out more about the materials we use in our turbines, please download this brochure.

Rare earth elements

Rare earths elements are naturally-occurring elements that, once mined and processed, can be used in a variety of industrial applications. These include permanent magnets in hybrid car motors and other high-tech applications.

Rare earth elements are used in our turbines because they improve the performance of the turbines by making the generators more efficient and more grid-compatible. Also, by using these materials we are able to reduce the overall size of the generator and our powertrains. This helps us to use fewer resources such as steel and structural materials, leading to a positive impact on our carbon footprint.

Nonetheless, compared to our previous turbine models, our most recent EnVentus wind turbine uses less light rare-earth materials per MW. In this variant, we have also eliminated the use of heavy rare earth materials altogether.

The recyclability of our turbines

Currently, the average Vestas wind turbine is 85 percent recyclable. That means 85 percent of the weight of the turbine can be fully recycled or re-used. The remaining challenge lies largely in the recycling of wind turbine rotors. These components contain composites of mainly epoxy resin and glass fiber. While the material is light, strong and durable, it is difficult to recycle cost-efficiently and without leaving a higher carbon footprint than using virgin raw materials. We are working actively in the development of composite recycling technologies to achieve our goal of zero-waste wind turbines by 2040.

Managing chemicals

Chemical management includes global procedures for approval of new chemicals, local instructions for handling, transporting and storing chemicals and a global chemical database for sharing knowledge from suppliers. In cooperation with a global provider of chemical, regulatory and compliance information services we have implemented a global chemical management system.

This includes an online system where our employees can enter and obtain essential information about the chemicals and hazardous substances used in making Vestas products. Some of the essential information which is available to the employees in the database includes safety datasheets and information about the handling, usage, transport and disposal of dangerous goods.

In order to adapt to changing chemical legislation globally like GHS, CLP and EU directives REACH and RoHS, we continuously update a central list, which identifies substances that are prohibited by various legislation around the world and restricts certain substances in our product manufacturing and service processes.

We require our suppliers to fulfill the requirements on the Vestas prohibited and restricted substance document for all products delivered to Vestas. If the product contains chemicals or materials restricted according to the Vestas prohibited and restricted substance document, the supplier must perform health and safety evaluations to ensure correct use of the chemicals and materials. Furthermore, it is expected that the supplier creates an action plan for phasing out these restricted substances and finding alternatives. In parallel, we need to assess if a time-bound dispensation can be signed off and/or if the product can be substituted.

Vestas SiteLCA^TM

Vestas offers customers the opportunity to acquire a customised Life Cycle Assessment of their own wind power plant called Vestas SiteLCA™. It determines key indicators of environmental performance and takes the wind turbine type, site specific conditions and the production supply chain into consideration.

The environmental performance of a wind power plant is site and layout specific and varies across the globe according to local site performance and manufacturing supply chain. SiteLCA™ provides customers or project developers with transparent environmental facts (such as carbon footprint, return on-energy, water-use or environmental benefits, etc.) of a specific wind plant. These fact-based indicators increase business case certainty by supporting the customer’s energy strategy (energy case, power plant benefits, index ratings, etc.) and supporting the project planning / permitting process (e.g. decommissioning plan, public acceptance, consultation and response).

By identifying key environmental indicators early in the project, customers are well-placed for successful and trustworthy external communications of power plant performance and to inform their energy strategy utilising fact-based information. SiteLCA™ may also quantify the power plant's key environmental benefits (such as turbine recycling or repowering options at end-of-life) and identify potential management risks of the plant, such as providing material breakdown for decommissioning plans or identifying potential key environmental impacts.

Vestas Site LCA™ is delivered by experienced experts and builds upon a long track-record of disclosing turbine environmental performance data since 1999. The service utilises advanced turbine models developed in-house by Vestas, complying with international ISO standards and third party review, which have been critically acknowledged as state-of-the-art analysis of wind power¹. For more information, please take a look at the the Vestas SiteLCA™ brochure.

Our electricity

In 2017, Vestas joined RE 100 – a group of global companies dedicated to increasing demand for renewable energy and committed to sourcing 100% renewable electricity. Since 2013, our company has been sourcing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable sources. This was achieved partly with contracts with local suppliers of renewable electricity and partly by compensating consumption of non-renewable electricity with Vestas-owned wind farms.

Then - in 2019, the Inka Group purchased three Vestas wind farms in Romania. These farms were contributing to our own sourcing of renewable electricity. Now, we are working to ensure our return to 100 percent renewable electricity. In 2019, 82 percent of our electricity was renewable and in 2020 this figure will return to 100 percent. In 2020 we achieved our 100 percent renewables goal across our operations globally.

Developing a Science Based Target

In August 2020, the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) verified our greenhouse gas reduction target for our own operations. We were the first renewable energy manufacturer to have successfully a validated target by the SBTi. The validation covers our target to achieve carbon neutrality in our own operations (scope 1 and 2 emissions) by 2030 – without using carbon offsets. The initiative confirmed that this target is in line with the high-ambition level required to keep global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures. Separately, our target for reducing emissions from our value-chain (scope 3 emissions) by 45 percent per MWh generated by 2030 has also been validated and recognised as notably ambitious. Read more about the first goal of our sustainability strategy here.

The Science Based Target initiative is a collaboration by the Carbon Disclosure Project, the United Nations Global Compact, the World Resources Institute and the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Policies

We have a Quality, Health, Safety and Environment Policy which sets standards and guides our behaviour in all areas.

Our responsibilities, commitments and governing sustainability

"At Vestas, we believe that a responsible and inclusive energy transition is a prerequisite for a sustainable future. We live this through our commitments to respect human rights and fight corruption and bribery in our operations."
Kristian Heydenreich, Senior Director - CSR and Global Compliance

Ethicsline

What initiatives do we run to ensure ethical behaviour?

As a global company, we have a responsibility to ensure our work is consistently responsible, ethical and organised effectively.

Ethicsline: Whistleblowing

Vestas is committed to providing a safe environment for reporting violations of laws and Vestas’ policies and procedures. EthicsLine is Vestas’ whistleblower platform where Vestas employees and anyone associated with Vestas can feel comfortable raising a concern.

Reporters can raise a concern anonymously and still be able to communicate and follow-up on the status of their reports by communicating with case handlers in the EthicsLine system. All reports are treated as strictly confidential regardless of whether the reporter provides a name or not.

EthicsLine is hosted on a secure platform operated by an independent service provider and the landing page for reporting is not part of Vestas’ website or intranet.

Our Codes of Conduct

At Vestas, we act with integrity in everything we do. This means making the right decisions when faced with difficult situations and ensuring that our actions match our values of accountability, collaboration, simplicity and passion. For us, a global company of more than 25,000 employees operating in over 40 countries, our Code of Conduct embodies this commitment and is supported by top management.

Vestas’ mission is to deliver best-in-class sustainable energy solutions and set the pace of our industry to the benefit of our customers and the planet. To achieve our mission, we are guided by our high standards on how we do business. We consider our Business Partners to play a key role in supporting our mission. To support our Business Partners in following Vestas’ standards, we have developed our Business Partner Code of Conduct and supporting guidelines.

Human rights

Vestas recognises its responsibility to respect human rights as set out in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and according to the framework outlined in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Please read more about our upgraded human rights approach here.

This commitment, which includes our expectations for Vestas’ business partners, is described in the Vestas Human Rights Policy and implemented across the organisation globally. The Human Rights Policy is communicated to internal and external stakeholders on Vestas’s intranet and website. In case of any complaints by employees or business partners on breaches of the Policy, these can be submitted to the Vestas EthicsLine. The Vestas Ethics Line is our own third-party whistle-blowing system. In line with internationally accepted human rights principles and standards, the Vestas Freedom of Association Policy serves to demonstrate our commitment to uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.

Corruption and bribery

Since 2010, we have been a signatory to the business-driven global anti-corruption initiative Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI) within the World Economic Forum. As a signatory, we are demonstrating that corruption cannot be countered without leadership and commitment from companies such as ours.

We work actively to assess our exposure to risk of bribery and corruption, and establish robust preventive procedures based on these assessments. The Vestas Codes of Conduct for employees and business partners both have a zero tolerance towards any form of bribery and any form of corruption. Face-to-face business ethics training is also provided to all employees in high-risk countries and business areas where the statistical risk of bribery and corruption is stronger.

In 2019, Vestas’ CSR Department continued to rollout a company-wide Anti-Corruption and Compliance campaign to all Vestas employees. This work has continued in and will be continued beyond 2020 and local initiatives will be expanded and continued.

Anti-Slavery Statement

Pursuant to the UK Modern Slavery Act (2015) - and to support greater transparency in this area, we have prepared our Anti-Slavery Statement. The Statement addresses the steps Vestas has taken to ensure that there is no modern slavery in our own business and our supply chain.

Vestas recognises that Modern Slavery (slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour and human trafficking) is an emerging global issue, which we need to be alert to and prepared to take action on. As part of our commitment to respect human rights, stated in our Human Rights Policy, we are continuously working to ensure that human rights are respected in our own operations and by our business partners in relation to our value chain. Ensuring that employees are free from forced labour and human trafficking is a key aspect to upholding our commitment to respect human rights.

Please find our Modern Slavery statements here.

Our business partners

In pursuing our vision to be the global leader in sustainable energy solutions, we consider our Business Partners to play a key role in supporting us. To support our Business Partners in following Vestas’ standards, we have developed our Business Partner Code of Conduct and supporting Guidelines. These are guided by the International Bill of Human Rights, the eight core conventions of the International Labour Organisation, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Additionally, Vestas is a signatory to the United Nations’ Global Compact and the World Economic Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative. We are committed to delivering continuous improvement in these areas. The Business Partner Code of Conduct outlines the minimum requirements our Business Partners must respect when conducting business with Vestas.

Supplier management

Sustainable supplier management

Components and raw materials currently make up more than 80 percent of the carbon footprint of the product manufacturing process of a wind turbine. As part of our sustainability strategy, Sustainability in Everything We Do, we are committed to reduce carbon emissions from our supply chain by 45 percent per MWh generated by 2030, and to produce zero-waste turbines by 2040. To achieve these goals, we depend on our business partners’ collaboration. Therefore, we began working with 27 strategic suppliers, covering 30 percent of our material spend, to achieve substantial improvements in the areas of carbon footprint and circularity. The collaboration with these 27 suppliers is only the start and we will gradually increase the number of suppliers in scope. The selected strategic suppliers are asked to commit to 100 percent renewable electricity, to set targets for reducing scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions, and to measure production waste for products delivered to Vestas. In 2022, the suppliers will be expected to set targets for reducing scope 3 emissions. To see which supplier have publicly committed to these expectations, please access the full list here.

Responsible supplier management

As part of our commitment to sustainability, everyone at Vestas is devoted to responsible supply chain management. Through a strong qualification and onboarding process, sustainability evaluations and global partnerships, we aim to improve our shared sustainability performance. Complying with the Vestas Business Partner Code of Conduct is an integral part of our Purchase Agreements, and we expect all suppliers to uphold these principles and standards.

We mitigate supplier risk by conducting third party due diligence screenings covering business ethics and sanctions. In 2020, we screened 2989 suppliers, allowing us to make informed decisions about who we work with, develop mitigation actions if necessary, and thus lower our risk exposure.

We also assess supplier compliance through rigorous due diligence processes. Our assessments range from questionnaires to onsite visits. In 2020, we carried out 39 onsite assessments for new suppliers globally, measuring performance against specific quality and sustainability parameters. Of these, 35 were approved, none were rejected, and 4 are under approval. We also commissioned an external company to conduct 44 compliance audits. When so-called ‘red flags’ are identified, indicating that suppliers are falling short of our standards, we initiate actions to address the issues raised.

Governing sustainability

Executive Management & Board of Directors

The Board of Directors for Vestas and Executive Management are the two most senior bodies governing Vestas. In 2019, both bodies approved the Vestas Sustainability Strategy. Within the board, there are also committees overseeing Vestas’ focus on sustainability.

The BoD held five Audit Committee meetings in 2019. The Committee evaluates the adequacy and effectiveness of Vestas’ ethics and anti-corruption programme pursuant to Vestas’ Code of Conduct and our participation in the World Economic Forum Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI). The cases filed in EthicsLine, our whistleblowing system, are also reported to this Committee.

The Nomination & Compensation Committee met six times in 2019. They support the Board of Directors in overall staff-related topics – including diversity and inclusion. Finally, the Technology & Manufacturing Committee met four times in 2019. They evaluate the sustainability performances of our company.

Sustainability Committee

The Vestas Sustainability Committee prioritises, oversees, and coordinates cross-functional sustainability initiatives across the entire organisation. They are also responsible for also overseeing that our company conforms with and lives up to its international responsibilities as a member of the UN Global Compact. The Committee reports to the Executive Management.

Strategy office

In April 2019, we established the Vestas Sustainability department. The department operates from the Vestas CEO Office within Global Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs. It is responsible for preparing, coordinating – and in close collaboration with the functional areas, driving, and practically supporting on the execution of the sustainability strategy. It reports to the Sustainability Committee on a regular basis.

Vestas’ Management System

At Vestas, all employees must work according to Vestas Management System. It enables us to put all external and internal sustainability requirements into practice systematically, efficiently and effectively. It is a central part of our intent to make sustainability an integral component of all business processes. In order to further demonstrate a commitment to meeting the highest standards of health, safety and the environment, our operations are built on global certificates for ISO 9001 for Quality, ISO 14001 for Environment and OHSAS 18001 for Health and Safety. Furthermore, two factories in Germany have certificate for ISO 50001.

Looking for our reports?

Transparency is crucial for us. Please find our sustainability reports and publicly available documents for further information on our sustainability journey.

Sustainability reports

Sustainability reports

Annual Report 2020, Sustainability 2020

Annual Report 2019, Sustainability 2019

Annual Report 2018, Sustainability 2018

Annual Report 2017, Sustainability 2017

Annual Report 2016, Sustainability 2016

Annual Report 2015, Sustainability 2015

Annual Report 2014, Sustainability 2014

Annual Report 2013, Sustainability 2013

Annual Report 2012, Sustainability 2012

Annual Report 2011, Sustainability 2011

Sustainability Report 2010

Environmental Statement 2004

Environmental Statement 2003

Environmental Statement 2002

Environmental Statement 2001

Environmental Statement 2000

Recognitions

Member company of the FTSE4Good index

Member company of the STOXX Global ESG Leaders

Member company of the MSCI Indices (ESG, SRI, Environmental, Climate)

Vestas Wind Systems has been reconfirmed as a constituent of the Ethibel Sustainability Index (ESI) Excellence Europe and the Ethibel Sustainability Index (ESI) Excellence Global since 08/05/2020.

Carbon Disclosure Project

Life Cycle Assessments

Current Portfolio

V90-1.8/2.0 MW	Yes (2011)
V100-2.0 MW	Yes (2015)
V110-2.0 MW	Yes (2015)
V116-2.0 MW	Yes (2018)
V120-2.0 MW	Yes (2018)
V90-3.0 MW	Yes (2013)
V105-3.45 MW	Yes (2017)
V112-3.45 MW	Yes (2017)
V117-3.45 MW	Yes (2017)
V126-3.45 MW	Yes (2017)
V136-3.45 MW	Yes (2017)
V117-4.2 MW	Yes (2019)
V136-4.2 MW	Yes (2019)
V150-4.2 MW	Yes (2019)

Other

V80-2.0 MW	Yes (2011)
V82-1.65 MW	Yes (2007)
V100-1.8 MW/2.0 MW	Yes (2011)
V100-2.6 MW	Yes (2013)
V112-3.0 MW	Yes (2011)
V105-3.3 MW	Yes (2014)
V112-3.3 MW	Yes (2015)
V117-3.3 MW	Yes (2014)
V126-3.3 MW	Yes (2014)

Modern Slavery Statements

Vestas Wind Systems Modern Slavery Statement 2019

Vestas Celtic Modern Slavery Statement 2019

NEG Micon Slavery Statement 2019

Vestas Tech Modern Slavery Statement 2019

UN Global Compact Communication on Progress

Vestas signed up to the United Nations Global Compact in 2009. We report on our implementation of the ten Global Compact Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.

Vestas is implementing the UN Global Compact Advanced Programme.

See Vestas’ status on realizing the UN Global Compact Advanced.

We disclose data to

We are rated

These ratings concern Vestas' ISS QualityScore ratings of July 1, 2020.

Our Sustainability Strategy - "Sustainability in everything we do" - with four key goals

Carbon neutrality by 2030 without carbon offsets

Zero-waste wind turbines by 2040

The safest, most inclusive and socially-responsible workplace in the energy industry

Leading the transition to a world powered by sustainable energy

"Integrating sustainability into everything we do is a part of our vision to become the global leader in sustainable energy solutions"

Driving Safety, Diversity and Inclusion

Safety awareness training

Safety walks

Electrical safety

Vestas Behavioural Change

Diversity and inclusion

How are we currently performing?

Our recruitment processes

E-learning for new employees

Reviewing our language

External pay audit

Diversity and Inclusion Partners

Advisory board

Diversity and Inclusion training

Cultural awareness: GlobeSmart

The Vestas D&I Policy

External collaboration

People with disabilities

Promoting environmental sustainability

Energy payback

Return-on-energy

Life Cycle Assessments

Our product carbon footprint

The materials we use

Rare earth elements

The recyclability of our turbines

Managing chemicals

Vestas SiteLCATM

Our electricity

Developing a Science Based Target

Policies

Our responsibilities, commitments and governing sustainability

What initiatives do we run to ensure ethical behaviour?

Ethicsline: Whistleblowing

Related links

Our Codes of Conduct

Related documents

Human rights

Corruption and bribery

Anti-Slavery Statement

Our business partners

Supplier management

Governing sustainability

Looking for our reports?

Sustainability reports

Recognitions

Life Cycle Assessments

Current Portfolio

Other

Modern Slavery Statements

UN Global Compact Communication on Progress

We disclose data to

We are rated

Vestas SiteLCA^TM