NLR 2030 ambition
NLR is one step closer to achieving its goal of being climate-neutral by 2030 for scope 1 (emissions from its own activities) and scope 2 (= emissions related to purchasing energy from third parties). The net CO2 emissions decreased in 2023 compared to the previous year. This reduction was driven by decreases in emissions from electricity consumption, building heating, and business travel using NLR vehicles. Furthermore, the emissions from flights using our Citation aircraft have been largely compensated.
Infographic on the CO2-footprint (scope 1 and 2) in 2023.
Sustainability in our research
Our ambition is to make aviation climate-neutral by 2050. This requires radical innovations in technology and society. We’re working on new propulsion technology, aircraft designs and alternative fuels. We also look at the whole chain of production, use and recycling to create a circular economy. To achieve this ambition, we are working with other stakeholders in the aviation sector as a member of the LiT (Luchtvaart in Transitie) programme. This initiative brings together parties to work together on the transition to a more sustainable aviation sector.
Sustainability of own organisation
In addition to making aviation more sustainable, we’re also working on making our own organization more sustainable. We’ve made our buildings more sustainable, replaced our company cars with electric and hybrid models, and joined the United Nations Global Compact. We limit our business travels as we question the necessity of each trip.
With regard to the catering/company restaurant in Marknesse and Amsterdam, we have a partnership with Hutten, a sustainable caterer. And our cleaning is outsourced to a company with the corporate brand “Responsible Clean”.
We have formulated several sustainability KPIs, including CO2 emissions, electricity consumption, waste and drinking water use. Our ambition is to be climate neutral in terms of our own emissions by 2030 (scope 1 and 2) and to achieve climate neutrality for all emissions by 2050 (scope 1, 2 and 3). We annually publish a CO2 footprint report and are certified for ISO-14001 CO2 reduction management.
In 2023, NLR for the first time reached a net-zero emission for all scope 1 and 2 emissions. This was achieved through a significant emission reduction and compensation of the remaining emissions by purchasing NL-wind Guarantees of Origin (GOO) certificates for NL-wind and Verified Emission Reduction (VER) credits. NLR recognises that offsetting cannot and should not replace other forms of emission reduction and will continue its efforts to further reduce pre-offset emissions in the coming years.
NLR is a foundation and as such we are not required to report under the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). However, in 2025, we will publish a sustainability report for the year 2024, based on the VSME standard developed by EFRAG. This standard covers the environmental, social and governance pillars. By reporting in this way on a voluntary basis, we aim to make our sustainability performance transparent and inform our stakeholders about our progress.