PRESS RELEASE

GEA awarded top rankings on CDP's water management and climate benchmark lists

CDP assessed GEA's efforts in the "water" category for the first time, awarding it an excellent "A" score; GEA also maintained last year's "A-" rating in the climate benchmark.

Düsseldorf, December 8, 2020 - This year for the first time, GEA was evaluated by CDP (formerly the "Carbon Disclosure Project") in the "water management" category of its sustainability rankings and was awarded the highest possible leadership level rating for its responsible water stewardship. In addition, GEA again scored "A-" for its climate protection activities, confirming its position among the world's leading companies on climate action.

"Being instantly confirmed in the top-ranking cluster of disclosing companies for water management and holding on to our very good position in the climate protection category is a great achievement for GEA," says Stefan Klebert, CEO of GEA Group AG. "In a year when the COVID-19 pandemic presented us with many additional challenges, receiving this distinction is even more meaningful. We remain fully committed to following our purpose of 'engineering for a better world'."

In its Global Risk Report 2019, the World Economic Forum identified the stable supply of high-quality water to the world's population as one of the primary environmental challenges for the upcoming decades. With this in mind, GEA strives to ensure the conservation of resources not only at its own sites but also when it comes to customer processes and their facilities. For example, since 2019 GEA has used a global water risk map provided by the Water Resource Institute to monitor GEA locations that are under water stress. The Group also identifies the impact of water scarcity on GEA's production and, where necessary, initiates water conservation projects focused on reclamation and reducing consumption.

In addition, GEA's efficient products and process solutions, including water treatment decanters and zero liquid discharge milk processing plants, promote sustainable water management among its customers. "As a high-tech company, we are fortunate to be able to use smart engineering to tangibly contribute to reducing our customers' resource consumption," explains Stefan Klebert. "From reducing water consumption to the water-neutral operation of entire production plants, we deliver key technologies that are shaping the discourse on responsible water usage."

Corporate Media and Press:
Marc Pönitz
Peter-Müller-Strasse 12, 40468 Düsseldorf, Germany
Phone +49 (0)211 9136-1500
[email protected]

About GEA

"Engineering for a better world" is the driving and energizing principle connecting GEA's 18,500-strong workforce. As one of the world's largest systems suppliers, GEA makes an important contribution to a sustainable future with its solutions and services, particularly in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical sectors. In 2019, the Company generated consolidated revenue of EUR 4.9 billion. Across the globe, GEA's plants, processes and components contribute significantly to the reduction of CO₂ emissions, plastic use as well as food waste in production.
GEA is listed on the German MDAX and the STOXX(R) Europe 600 Index and also included in the DAX 50 ESG and MSCI Global Sustainability indexes.

About CDP
CDP is a global non-profit that drives companies and governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. The climate research provider represents institutional investors with assets of US$106 trillion and leverages their power to motivate companies to disclose and manage their environmental impacts. Over 9,600 companies with over 50 percent of global market capitalization disclosed environmental data through CDP in 2020. This is in addition to the hundreds of cities, states and regions who disclosed, making CDP's platform one of the richest global sources of information on how companies and governments are driving environmental change. CDP is a founding member of the We Mean Business Coalition. https://cdp.net/en