Climate and nature

Biodiversity

Protecting nature around us

Biodiversity underpins all life on Earth and is essential for critical services such as clean air, fresh water, and food security. To address the global biodiversity crisis, we are working to promote biodiversity in our operations and aim to collaborate with our suppliers to minimise the negative impacts of our value chain.

Professionals in nature, VELUX vests in field, biologist by pond.

Improving biodiversity at VELUX Group sites

In 2023, the strategic project “Support Biodiversity” was was launched. This scope of this project covers the full value chain and includes developing a method for assessing the state of biodiversity at VELUX Group sites. The method was developed and tested during 2024 on six VELUX sites located in Denmark, Poland, Italy, and Hungary.

The pilot project started with an assessment of the biodiversity at each site. This assessment is used to measure the potential for improvement and create an action plan for how each site can support and improve the outdoor areas in line with nature. Beyond enhancing the biodiversity score, the project also aims to explore how these improvements can positively influence employee well-being and create a healthier, more vibrant work environment.

Two radar charts showing ecosystem functions and interactions.

Biowheels showing biodiversity baseline levels (left) and future target levels (right) at the VELUX site in Namysłów, Poland

The Biodiversity Playbook

The Biodiversity Playbook includes the methodology developed for assessing the state of biodiversity on VELUX Group sites. The methodology builds on existing tools, including those developed by the Society for Ecological Restoration, and follows the approach of the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN). The standardised data sets from the baseline reports can be used for reporting under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and other reporting frameworks. Furthermore, all data collected in this project will enter the Global Biodiversity Initiative Framework (GBIF). This international network and data infrastructure provides open access to comprehensive biodiversity data, supporting research and policy decisions worldwide.

Warehouse with stacked wooden pallets and a worker in a high-visibility vest.

Working with our supply chain

Our greatest impacts and dependencies on nature are found in our supply chain from the extraction of raw materials for the creation of our products. This is by far the most complex part of our work to support biodiversity.

As we move forward, we plan to focus our efforts on our largest material impacts in the supply chain, identifying opportunities to mitigate harm and improve biodiversity beyond our own gates in collaboration with our key suppliers and other partners.

A commitment to become a circular business

The transition to a circular economy is key to decarbonising the built environment and reducing the impacts associated with materials. We have begun integrating materials with an increased share of recycled content in our products and we are now taking the next step to integrate circularity further into product design and to develop a customer-centric approach to the circular economy.