Environment
We're a software company that’s dedicated to enabling customers from all sectors of the economy to innovate sustainably. But just as importantly, we’re fully committed to applying a science-based approach to minimize our own environmental footprint and maximize our handprint.
As a company committed to and based on science, it is only natural for us to now aim for the highest standard in emissions targets: the Science-Based Targets initiative. We believe that climate change is not only one of the world’s greatest risks, it is also one of the greatest opportunities in history for sustainable innovation.
The Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommends a set of information companies should disclose to allow investors, lenders, insurance underwriters and other stakeholders to adequately access and evaluate financial risks and financial impacts related to climate change.
This four-dimensional framework includes climate commitments/strategy, governance, risk management and metrics & targets.
We apply TCFD's recommendations to outline our methodology for managing the critical issue of environmental sustainability.
Each section below shares about our company’s approach to addressing the risks linked to our environmental impact, with a particular emphasis on climate action.
For a summary of the ways in which Dassault Systèmes integrates environmental considerations into our operations, download our Environmental Statement.
Our Climate Commitments & Strategy
Our Climate Commitments
In 2021, the Science‑Based Targets initiative (SBTi) approved Dassault Systèmes’ pathway for greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions targets. That same year, we published our strategic roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality. Our commitments continue to evolve; as of 2023, we are awaiting approval on a new set of targets to include our acquisition of Medidata and to consider updated sources of emissions factors that provide a more comprehensive and accurate overview of the impact on climate change.
First, our carbon emissions reduction pathway covers the main greenhouse gas sources within our scopes 1,2 and partly 3 (Business travel + employee commuting) have reduction objectives approved by the SBTI in order to limit the rise in temperatures above 1.5°C.
Second, we consider to offset the impact of any residual emissions by investing in projects that permanently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; this is intended to help us meet our goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040 the latest.
We firmly believe collaboration is critical to address global climate change, and so we’ve also committed to working with other stakeholders to tackle these complex challenges.
We’ve both joined and helped found global initiatives to promote sustainable development, such as the European Green Digital Coalition, the United Nations Global Compact, Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) supporters’ network, Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) as well as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Find out more about our sustainability targets.
Our Strategy
Our approach to mitigating climate change takes into account both our environmental footprint (such as our greenhouse gas emissions) and the handprint (such as the avoided emissions) our products and services can allow.
- Footprint: we manage our direct footprint in many ways:
- Real Estate and Facilities: Select eco-efficient workplaces, sort ordinary waste and deploy ISO 50 001 certification when relevant,
- Procurement: Purchase low carbon energy, evaluate the sustainability performance of purchased products and initiate dialogue with key suppliers; more detail on our purchasing policies can be found here.
- Mobility: deployment of our Travel Smarter, Travel Greener policy, and of the remote work two days a week;
- Information Technology: challenge data centers’ energy efficiency, extend hardware lifespan and manage e-waste.
Read Chapter 2 of our 2022 Annual Report for a more complete description of our environmental actions and KPIs.
- Handprint: we recognize that climate change and pressures on natural resources require managing risks while also capturing the enormous opportunities related to the sustainable transformation of the economy.
A key tenant of our climate and environmental risks mitigation strategy is the development of solutions that enable our clients to minimize their own environmental footprint, such as virtual prototyping solutions to avoid wasted materials in the product development and testing phase and designing intelligent cities that optimize resource use.
Governance
As social, societal and environmental responsibility is a core element of Dassault Systèmes’ strategy and achievements, we’ve established a governance system to ensure that social and environmental issues are better taken into account within the company and the Board of Directors.
Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors considers sustainability when reviewing and setting multi‑year strategic guidelines. We’ve appointed an independent director as Lead Director of Sustainable Development within our Board of Directors to review our ESG targets, action plans and achievements. This role is currently held by Genevieve Berger (Discover her biography)
Additionally, each committee of the Board of Directors has sustainability objectives related to their missions.
For example:
- the Scientific Committee reviews the evolution of our sustainability solutions portfolio and analyses the potential technological breakthroughs impacting the market
- the Audit Committee reviews new ESG reporting requirements and related matters,
- the Compensation and Nomination Committee reviews the performance criteria, including the ESG indicator, for the annual variable compensation of the executive officers.
The members of these three Board of Directors committees meet at two annual sessions, one dedicated to sustainability and the other to risk prevention and management within the company, including ESG risks.
Executive Operating Committee
Our Executive Operating Committee includes a dedicated member responsible for our sustainability strategic roadmap in terms of product development to help customers become more sustainable (handprint) and manage our company’s environmental footprint. This role is held by Florence Verzelen, Executive Vice-President, Industry, Marketing & Sustainability.
Operational Actors
The Sustainability Steering Committee brings together the executive managers of Dassault Systèmes’ key functions four times a year to discuss action plans and progress in support of our sustainable development strategy.
Our Chief Sustainability Officer is this committee’s secretary, and is responsible for leading Dassault Systèmes’ sustainable development strategy around three pillars:
- Expertise - "supporting exemplary footprint", which commits to the highest standard of Sustainability ambitions, orchestrates environmental reporting operations, the management of extra-financial ratings and the animation of the network of ESG contributors,
- Ecosystem - "developing networks", which builds relations/partnerships with internal, institutional, academic, analyst, and integrator partners on sustainable development issues to raise the voice of Dassault Systèmes as an enabler for Sustainability.
- Engagement - "enabling customer transitions", which engages with existing and new customers to imagine new solutions and business models to enable and accelerate their sustainable transformations, particularly in line with the sustainable development factors retained by the EU Taxonomy.
Philippine De T'Serclaes has been our CSO since 2022; read more about her nomination.
We also have network of more than 40 Sustainability Leads who implement the company’s sustainability strategy in the geographical areas, brands and industries, and a Zero Carbon Team, which brings together seven key functions, and ensures that the selected action plan is launched, followed and analyzed for continuous improvement.
Finally, in 2021, our Finance Department created a Sustainable Finance and Procurement Unit charged ensuring the reliability of the reporting process and non‑financial information, the calculation of indicators relating to the EU Taxonomy and the risk assessment on the basis of climate scenarios.
Risk Management
Our risk universe is divided into four categories:
- human capital risks,
- legal and compliance risks,
- financial and strategic risks,
- operational risks.
They are analyzed in detail to determine the level of risk and are assessed on three dimensions: impact on strategic position, impact on image and reputation, and financial impact.
Seventeen aspects of the risk universe are related to Social, Societal and Environmental issues that could impact our long‑term resilience. They include the 26 general sustainability issues defined by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). Some of them have been grouped together to better reflect their significance within Dassault Systèmes’ overall risk portfolio.
We’ve also created a risk‑management function that’s managed by the Deputy General Secretary, supported by the Internal Audit department.
Dassault Systèmes also uses the SASB Materiality Map for the software and IT services sector to highlight its most material Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues:
| Dimension | SASB Materiality Map (Software & IT Services) |
|---|---|
|
Environment |
Energy Management |
|
Social Capital |
Customer Privacy Data Security |
|
Human Capital |
Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion |
|
Leadership & Governance |
Competitive Behavior Systemic Risk Management |
To address the acceleration of extreme climatic events, entailing significant biodiversity loss and causing the displacement of populations and widespread destruction, international structures has been organized around the concept of a “world partnership” to combat global warming and preserve the environment. We are convinced that the involvement of all stakeholders is vital in tackling climate change, and that the 3DEXPERIENCE platform can play a significant role by facilitating collaboration and sharing of know‑how.
One of the most critical risks identified by both SASB and our internal stakeholders is the management of energy consumption and its related impact on the climate.
This risk is reviewed regularly by the Sustainability Committee, the Executive Committee, and the Board of Directors via the dedicated Sustainability lead.
Metrics & Targets
We recognize that to lead our climate action, we need to set targets and measure our impact. We report on environmental targets and KPIs in Chapter 2 of our 2023 Annual Report.
Metrics
We use the Greenhouse Gas Protocol to measure and to analyze our carbon footprint. The assessment of these GHG emissions includes:
- Scope 1: direct emissions related to natural gas, use of refrigerants, fuel for generators and company cars.
- Scope 2: indirect emissions related to electricity and urban heating and cooling.
- Scope 3: indirect emissions related to business travel required to maintain relations with customers and partners, employees’ commute, purchased goods and services, capital goods, recycling of ordinary, electric and electronic waste, and emissions related to the upstream energy referred to in the GHG Protocol, such as fuel-and-energy-related activities.
Note on Scope 3 emissions from Use of Goods Sold:
Our Use of Goods Sold (Scope 3) is mostly indirect and therefore out of scope for the GHG Protocol for corporate reporting. However, Dassault Systèmes voluntarily estimates and reports this number: our Use of Goods Sold in 2022 (exc. Medidata) is 495,039 tCO2-eq.
This estimation involves, by nature, a significant amount of uncertainty as it integrates several levels of approximation, often dependent on the customer himself (such as the use of renewable electricity, the time of use of the solution, the type of IT infrastructure, etc.). This estimate must therefore especially be considered as an order of magnitude.
Targets
In June 2021, the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) approved Dassault Systèmes' GHG emissions reduction targets to help meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and develop an approach that aims at keeping global warming below 1.5°C. We submitted the following new targets at year-end 2022 that have been approved in 2023 by the SBTi; and in line with the ones validated previously:
- a 35% reduction in scopes 1 and 2 GHG by 2027, with 2019 as a year of reference;
- a 20% reduction in scope 3 (business travel and employees’ commute) GHG by 2027, with 2019 as a year of reference;
- by 2025, reach 50% of suppliers of GHG emissions being themselves committed to a science-based reduction target.
In addition to these SBTi targets, Dassault Systèmes also committed to reach carbon neutrality by 2040 the latest.
Related content
Social
We’re committed to generating positive social impact through our activities, and we strive to maintain a diverse workforce and an inclusive environment.
Governance
For us, pursuing ethical and sustainable growth is one of the pillars of our Corporate Social Responsibility Principles and our sustainability strategy more widely.
Investors
Discover our Earnings, Regulated Information, Governance, CSR, Shareholder’s meeting, Events & Publications, Financing and Stock.