As I step into the cavernous exhibition hall of the Sustainable Solutions Expo in Berlin, Siemens’ massive booth dominates the landscape. The company’s new mantra—”Technology with Purpose”—glows in sustainable LED lighting above demonstrations of carbon-capturing industrial systems and digital twins monitoring energy usage in real time. This visual statement perfectly encapsulates what I’ve been tracking for months: Siemens is fundamentally reimagining its identity around sustainability, and the recently announced Sustainability Strategy 2025 represents their most ambitious environmental commitment yet.
“We’re not just greening our operations—we’re transforming our entire business model to enable sustainability for our customers,” explains Judith Wiese, Siemens’ Chief Sustainability Officer, during our conversation amid the buzz of the expo. Her enthusiasm is evident as she outlines how the industrial giant plans to leverage its technological expertise to address climate challenges while maintaining profitable growth.
The strategy represents a significant evolution in corporate environmental planning. While many companies focus primarily on reducing their own carbon footprints, Siemens’ approach tackles both internal operations and the enabling role their technologies play in other industries’ decarbonization efforts.
At its core, the strategy commits Siemens to achieving carbon neutrality across its operations by 2030, with an intermediate 55% reduction target by 2025 compared to 2019 levels. But what distinguishes this plan is its dual focus on what the company calls “sustainability IN and sustainability BY Siemens.”
The “IN” component addresses traditional environmental metrics within company operations—energy efficiency, renewable power sourcing, and circular economy principles in manufacturing. The “BY” element focuses on how Siemens’ products, solutions, and services enable customers to reduce their environmental impacts.
“This isn’t just another corporate sustainability pledge,” notes Patricia Poku, environmental technology analyst at CleanTech Partners. “Siemens is positioning sustainability as a core business driver, recognizing that their growth prospects are directly linked to helping other industries decarbonize.”
Indeed, Siemens estimates that its environmental portfolio generated €38.8 billion in revenue last year, with projections to reach €50 billion by 2025. Technologies like industrial energy efficiency systems, smart grid solutions, and building automation already constitute approximately 40% of the company’s business.
The company’s Smart Infrastructure division exemplifies this approach. At the expo, I test-drive their new building management system that employs AI to optimize energy usage across commercial facilities. The demonstration shows how the platform reduced energy consumption by 32% in a pilot deployment across a university campus in Denmark.
“The most sustainable energy is the energy you don’t use in the first place,” says Thomas Schmidt, head of Siemens’ Building Technologies division. “Our systems now optimize consumption minute-by-minute based on occupancy patterns, weather forecasts, and energy market conditions.”
Water conservation represents another critical focus. The strategy targets a 20% reduction in water withdrawal across Siemens’ operations by 2025, while simultaneously expanding water management solutions for industrial customers. At the Kalundborg industrial complex in Denmark, Siemens’ water treatment and monitoring technologies help maintain a circular system where one company’s wastewater becomes another’s resource.
Perhaps most significant is Siemens’ commitment to transparent reporting. The company has adopted the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework and plans to integrate sustainability metrics into quarterly financial reporting by 2023.
“This level of disclosure sends a powerful message,” says Maya Rodriguez, ESG director at Sustainable Investment Partners. “By subjecting sustainability metrics to the same scrutiny as financial data, Siemens is demonstrating serious accountability.”
Not everyone is convinced. Environmental watchdog group ClimateAction Now has criticized the strategy as insufficient, arguing that Siemens should divest entirely from fossil-fuel related technologies. The company continues to supply equipment for natural gas infrastructure, which it defends as a necessary transition technology.
When pressed on this point, Wiese acknowledges the tension but stands firm. “We believe in pragmatic decarbonization pathways. Natural gas combined with carbon capture plays a role in the transition while we scale renewables and storage technologies.”
The company’s innovation pipeline suggests they’re backing this transition perspective with R&D muscle. Siemens plans to increase its already substantial annual R&D investment of €4.6 billion, with approximately 60% directed toward sustainability-related innovations by 2025. Focus areas include green hydrogen production, industrial-scale carbon capture, advanced grid management for renewable integration, and circular economy technologies.
“Their digital twin technology for manufacturing processes could be revolutionary for resource efficiency,” observes Dr. Eliza Chen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Industrial Sustainability Lab. “By modeling energy and material flows virtually before physical implementation, companies can optimize for sustainability from design through operation.”
As our global economy confronts the urgent need to decarbonize while maintaining prosperity, Siemens’ approach offers a compelling model. Rather than treating sustainability as peripheral corporate social responsibility, they’re integrating environmental impact into core business strategy.
The coming years will test whether this strategy delivers the promised environmental and financial returns. For now, Siemens appears to be engineering not just a sustainable future for itself, but potentially for the industrial sector at large. As I leave the exhibition hall, watching demonstrations of hydrogen electrolyzers and digital factory twins, it’s clear that for Siemens, green tech isn’t just good ethics—it’s good business.
