Science-based targets for a Science-based company

Dassault Systèmes considers ourselves to be a scientific company as much as (or more than!) a technology company. We’re a global leader in virtual twin experiences, which are science-based models that can be fully configured and simulated, making it possible to understand the invisible to represent the visible. Virtual twins created in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform help our customers sustainably innovate by leveraging advances in the fields of renewables materials science, manufacturing operations & waste management, lifecycle assessment and more. Putting science at the service of sustainability via cutting-edge software is what we do best.

Science-Based Target Initiatives

Last December, Dassault Systèmes committed to the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi). The SBTi promotes, as we do, the idea that setting science-based targets offers the best path for companies to clearly understand the level of action they need to take to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to help prevent the greatest impacts of climate change.

That move signaled 3DS’s commitment to set credible targets rooted in scientific principles to help meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. We have now set our specific targets for the three scopes of GHG reduction as well as our commitment to be net zero by 2040. SBTi has validated our targets as being in line with climate science and notably with an ambitious 1.5oC pathway for Scopes 1 and 2.

Specifically, we commit to:

• To reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 34% and scope 3 GHG emissions from business travel and employee commuting 23% by 2027 from a 2019 base year.
• To reduce scope 3 GHG emissions from business travel and employee commuting 55% per kilometer within the same time frame.
• That 52% of its suppliers by emissions covering purchased goods and services and capital goods will have science-based targets by 2025.
• That any residual emissions remaining after these science-based targets are achieved will be neutralized via carbon removals, with a preference for innovative technological solutions enabled by the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, in order to reach net zero emissions by 2040.

As a scientific company, it was important for us to set our net zero ambition as a natural extension – not a substitute – of our ambitious reduction targets.  Indeed, ‘net zero emissions’ means reducing the GHG a company emits as much as possible and only then removing the residual or remaining GHG emissions from the atmosphere using nature (afforestation, etc.) or technology (carbon capture, etc.) based solutions.

Why Dassault Systèmes commits to sustainability goals

As a world leader in 3D digital technologies, we are excited by the new opportunities this net zero commitment will bring – in particular when it comes to leveraging our technology to enable the development of the emerging carbon removal industry. Indeed, our software is behind some of the world’s greatest sustainable innovation breakthroughs, from electric vehicles to wind turbines to the first solar airplane. We believe we can help enable the development of carbon removal technologies in the same way we have brought to life these other groundbreaking industrial innovations.

In a recent paper we released with Accenture, we explored the power of virtual twins to accelerate the global sustainability revolution. We found that by scaling up just five use cases, by 2030 virtual twins could help reduce global emissions by 7.5Gt CO2eq, roughly the emissions from all transportation systems today. Our passion is to help our customers apply this technology to gain greater understanding into their impact on the environment and invent innovative products in the most sustainable way possible.

As we do that work, we are proud that we are also turning inward to ensure our own company of 20,000+ employees in 140 countries across the world can all work in harmony to minimize our own impacts on the environment and advance our positive impact. We believe in the approach of rooting our work in the science, and are excited to have shared our specific targets in line with the best practices in the market today. I invite you to click on the following links to discover more about our science-based targets and our objectives to be at net zero by 2040.