Our gases and Messer’s application expertise contribute to the UN’s declared goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. To achieve this, we are minimizing our own CO₂ footprint and helping our customers to reduce CO₂ emissions in their applications. This is made possible by the effect of our gas applications and efficient gas supply, among other things. 

We want to reduce the emissions intensity of our global activities by 40% by 2030 compared to 2019, measured in kg CO₂e per euro of EBITDA.

We see green hydrogen as a lever for decarbonizing industry and mobility. Based on our H₂ expertise, we are focusing on the particularly economical on-site production of green hydrogen, customized refueling solutions and an operator model for the use of fuel cell-powered electric buses in local public transport. Another focus is on the recovery of CO₂ emissions from industrial exhaust air and subsequent recycling or storage.

Our focus is on the greatest possible safety for our employees and customers.
Our aim is to prevent accidents among our employees and our customers’ employees.

As part of our diversity and inclusion management, we want to increase the proportion of female managers at first and second management levels to 30 percent by 2030. 

We consistently develop the potential of our international and multicultural teams. For us, mixed management teams are a prerequisite for achieving balanced and profitable cooperation at a strategic level.

We reflect the legal requirements for ESG reporting in our Group guidelines. 

We utilize our potential in terms of employees, expertise, and customer satisfaction. 

We pursue strategies and measures for sustainable growth and secure financing of our investments. 

We find ways to involve our team even better in the development of new ideas. We encourage our employees to demonstrate their personal ESG commitment in line with Messer’s mission.

In 2023, Messer conducted a materiality assessment to update the company’s material topics and refresh the materiality matrix used to prioritize sustainability efforts worldwide.

This approach not only examined Messer’s current and potential impacts on the environment and society (impact materiality), but also the current and potential impacts of external ecosystems on Messer’s financial performance (financial materiality). It gave us a unique opportunity to engage with our stakeholders, better understand evolving expectations and engage them in Messer’s sustainability journey.

We followed a systematic process to complete the double materiality assessment:

1. Defining sustainability topics. We started by establishing and assessing a list of 220 sustainability topics derived from the most recent materiality assessment, the ESRS topic list, peer reviews, rating agency focus areas and relevant industry reports.
    
2. Refining sustainability topic short list. Our assessment led us to a list of 12 sustainability topics that we believe are most relevant to Messer, considering Messer’s business operations and potential impacts, risks, and opportunities.
    
3. Interviewing and surveying affected stakeholders. We conducted interviews with selected internal and external stakeholders in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, including customers, suppliers, financial partners, and members of the leadership teams. Furthermore, anonymous surveys were used to gather insights from Messer employees and social media followers. 
    
4. Analyzing results and defining materiality. After analyzing and validating the data, we shared the matrix output with internal stakeholders, including Messer’s experts from various business domains as well as the Executive Management Board. We set our material thresholds and documented Messer’s materiality process.

The highest impact topics identified as part of Messer’s materiality assessment and their related definitions are listed below in alphabetical order:

• Communicate with stakeholders about sustainability matters
  Communicating with stakeholders about sustainability matters refers to how Messer engages with affected stakeholder groups regarding the impact of material topics as well as its progress and achievements on environmental, social, and governance-related programs, including business conduct.
   
• Cultivate a culture of safety, health, and well-being
  Cultivating a culture of safety, health and well-being refers to Messer’s commitment to build a strong safety culture and its obligation to offer the highest level of safety to its employees, whether they work in plants, construction, transportation or in administrative workplaces. This also encompasses Messer’s efforts to ensure the physical and mental health of employees, and work-life balance.
   
• Foster safety for our customers and end users
  Fostering safety for our customers and end users refers to Messer’s commitment to ensuring that its customers and end users use its industrial gases, related equipment, and services in a safe manner. This includes providing ongoing safety education and related training to our customers.
   
• Improve decarbonization, energy efficiency and climate resilience across our value chain
  Improving decarbonization, energy efficiency, and climate resilience across Messer’s value chain refers to Messer’s actions to continuously minimize emissions through the sustainable use of energy, the mitigation of climate risks, as well as decarbonization efforts. These actions include product and application technologies and innovations to support a circular economy and deliver alternative solutions that have a positive impact across its value chain. This will help Messer and its value chain partners to reduce their ecological footprint, enhance their climate resilience, and improve energy efficiency in their operations.
   
• Promote compliance, good governance, and ethical business conduct
  Promoting compliance, good governance and ethical business conduct refers to Messer’s practices, policies, and procedures that ensure appropriate business conduct and strict compliance with the law. This includes tracking as well as corrective actions concerning incidents of corruption and bribery, procedures, and policies for the protection of whistleblowers, and policies for relationship management. Further, this includes establishing policies and trainings for Messer’s workforce which enforce the protection and detection of non-compliance.
   
• Promote diversity, mutual respect, and employee development
  Promoting diversity, mutual respect and employee development refers to Messer’s efforts to creating a prejudice-free and appreciative working environment where everyone can thrive, irrespective of gender, nationality, ethnic or social origin or caste, religion, ideology, disability, age, sexual orientation or sexual identity for all employees and workers in the value chain. This includes efforts to train and develop employees, so they feel valued and appreciated.
   
• Safeguard data and promote cybersecurity
  Safeguarding data and promoting cybersecurity refers to Messer’s commitment to comply with applicable data protection regulations as well as implement preventive measures to protect the company against unauthorized access and cyberattacks. This includes handling personal and business data of their employees, customers, and business contacts in a legally compliant manner and implementing organizational and documentation measures specified by data protection law to ensure privacy.
   
• Uphold safe practices across our supply chain
  Upholding safe practices across our supply chain refers to Messer’s commitment to protecting and promoting the safety of the workers in its value chain, in particular contractors and suppliers in construction, plant maintenance and operation, and logistics and transportation. This includes supporting their right to collective bargaining and freedom of association. 

Messer will also continue to monitor the following topics in the light of trends and new developments to take into account evolving expectations and business conditions:

• Act responsibly towards the local communities in which we operate
  Acting responsibly towards the local communities in which we operate means managing the impact of Messer’s activities on the affected communities in which it operates, as well as contributing to the development of local communities.
   
• Manage the use of water and marine resources effectively
  Managing the use of water and marine resources effectively includes ensuring sustainable practices for the extraction from, use and discharge of water.
   
• Protect biodiversity
  Protecting biodiversity refers to managing the impact on the state of the species (animals and plants) within the ecosystems that Messer operates in.
   
• Reduce waste and pollution
  Reducing waste and pollution refers to the responsible management and avoidance of air, soil, and water pollution, as well as the reduction of waste by enhancing the efficiency of Messer’s processes and its value chain.

Bernd Eulitz has been appointed as the new CEO of Messer with effect from April 26, 2023. In the coming years, he will realize Messer’s full potential in the new structure created in November 2023 as a customer- and value-oriented gas player. With his extensive experience in the gases business, together with his strong management team and the loyal and highly qualified international workforce, Bernd Eulitz will successfully shape the future of Messer in this spirit. 
Bernd Eulitz joined the Messer Group as Deputy Chairman of the Executive Management Board at the beginning of 2022. Previously, he was the CEO of a German Mdax company. Bernd Eulitz has more than 20 years of experience in the industrial gases sector. Among other things, he held various management positions in Germany and abroad at Linde, where he was a member of the Executive Board from 2015 to 2019.

Helmut Kaschenz has been appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Messer SE & Co. KGaA with effect from January 1, 2022. He took over the position from Dr. Uwe Bechtolf. Before joining Messer, Helmut Kaschenz worked for 25 years in corporate and institutional banking in New York, London, and Frankfurt/Main as well as in the chemical industry. 

Virginia Esly has been appointed to the Messer Executive Management Board as Chief Operational Officer (COO) Europe as of January 2, 2023. This makes her the first female board member in Messer’s history. Virginia Esly has over twenty years of experience in the industrial gases business. She succeeds Ernst Bode.

Elena Skvortsova has represented the Americas region on the Messer Executive Management Board as COO Americas since November 22, 2023. She began her professional career in 1994 at Bayer AG in Germany. In 2001, she moved to the USA to work for Baxter International Inc. where she most recently served as Vice President BioScience until 2015. Elena then moved to the industrial gases sector and held the position of President Middle East & Eastern Europe at Linde in Munich before taking over responsibility for Praxair’s Canadian business until 2020. Most recently, she was a member of the Executive Board of OMV AG in Vienna, Austria.

Dr. Werner Hickel, took over the position of COO Asia on November 22, 2023, and thus continued to be responsible for the business in China and the ASEAN countries. Werner Hickel joined Messer in 1998 and was appointed Finance Director of Messer China in Shanghai in 2000. From 2003 to 2018, he was COO and later CEO Messer China/ASEAN.

In 2023, Stefan Messer relinquished his position as Chairman of the Executive Management Board and thus the operational management of Messer and moved to the top of the Supervisory Board on April 27. The long-standing Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Dr. Jürgen Heraeus, is now an honorary member of the Board. Stefan Messer, a third-generation shareholder, had been at the helm of Messer since 2004.

Patents serve to protect the results of research and development of Messer and their further development for commercial use. 

Messer owns over 1,000 patents worldwide. They strengthen Messer’s competitive position by creating competitive advantages through the monopolization of certain products or processes. 

The Messer company logo and logotype, as well as many products, processes, and services, are protected by registered trademarks (over 800 in total in more than 50 countries). Should a competitor use identical or similar designations for identical or similar items, Messer will take all measures to protect its own rights. 

The registered trademarks of the Messer Group are generally only used by Messer Group companies. The property rights of competitors are respected in all activities of the Messer Group.

At Messer, we strive to always act with a high degree of integrity and reliability in everything we do. Since the founding of Messer, we have valued responsible behavior towards people and the environment, and compliance with the law, as cornerstones of the way we do business. Consequently, we expect that our Business Partners act responsibly and in compliance with all applicable laws, too.

Group Compliance oversees key measures relating to the supply chain. In 2023, for example, necessary guidelines were drawn up to combat bribery/corruption and for third-party management. A Business Partner Code of Conduct and a Declaration of Principles for Human Rights and Working Conditions were developed across departments and represent uniform, globally binding guidelines for all Messer business partners that are based on the ten principles of the United Nations Global Compact and focus on internationally recognized human rights, labor standards and working conditions. 

Messer has also implemented a Third-Party Management System, starting with Europe. This enables Messer to fulfill its extensive due diligence obligations with regard to the review, selection, and monitoring of its business partners (third parties). 
These requirements are becoming more stringent worldwide due to legal and contractual obligations, not least under the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) or the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (EU CSDD). These third-party audits cover reputational, corruption, and sanction risks and will be expanded in the future to include human rights, occupational health and safety, and environmental protection issues throughout Messer’s entire value chain, including direct and indirect suppliers, service providers, and customers. 

In 2023 an IT solution (“Third-Party Risk Management Tool”) was purchased to standardize and simplify the process of supplier due diligence and management. It is adapted to Messer-specific requirements and will be made available to all group companies.