Signify: “We believe resilience is becoming more important to businesses right now” – Image for illustrative purposes only (Image credits: Unsplash)
Global lighting company Signify has introduced its third major sustainability initiative, extending efforts that began nearly a decade ago to reduce environmental harm across its operations and customer base. The program arrives at a time when businesses confront supply chain strains, energy volatility, and the growing effects of climate change. Company leaders see these pressures as a reason to prioritize resilience through faster decarbonization and more circular business models.
Why Resilience Has Moved to the Forefront
Signify’s approach reflects a broader shift in corporate priorities. Over the past five to ten years, events such as the pandemic, energy shortages, and supply disruptions have tested companies’ ability to adapt. The firm’s global head of sustainability, Maurice Loosschilder, noted that resilience now means decarbonizing operations more rapidly, investing in people, and shifting toward circular solutions that reduce dependence on new materials.
This focus helps both Signify and its customers manage geopolitical tensions and market changes. Rather than retreating from environmental goals, the company views these commitments as practical tools for long-term stability. The strategy aligns with observed increases in climate-related risks that affect manufacturing and distribution networks worldwide.
Key Targets Set for 2030
The new program, titled “Brighter Lives, Better World 2030,” sets measurable goals across three main areas. Signify aims to save 60 terawatt hours of electricity annually for customers, a figure equivalent to Switzerland’s yearly usage. It also targets a 35 percent reduction in the carbon intensity of its product portfolio and plans to increase revenue from circular products from 10 percent to 27.5 percent.
Another objective calls for 41 percent of revenue to come from solutions that deliver benefits beyond basic lighting, such as supporting efficient food production and expanding access to solar-powered systems. These targets build directly on earlier programs that achieved full renewable electricity use and zero waste to landfill in manufacturing sites.
Three Pillars Guiding the Effort
The initiative rests on benefits beyond illumination, energy efficiency, and resource efficiency. The first pillar highlights lighting’s role in productivity, safety, health, and food availability, now including solar integration. The second focuses on cutting energy consumption through more efficient products and services. The third emphasizes circular practices, including a new platform called Signify Circle that assists professional customers with their own circular economy plans.
These pillars emerged from a double-materiality assessment that weighed both business risks and opportunities. The company continues to track progress against eight United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, up from six in the previous program. Mapping exercises ensure each commitment connects to specific global targets.
Customer Interest in Circular Solutions
Demand for circular products has risen as regulations tighten resource use and some markets introduce incentives or penalties for waste. Remanufacturing, where existing fixtures are upgraded rather than replaced, appeals to customers seeking to avoid capital outlays. Light as a Service models further reduce risk by shifting costs to ongoing operations instead of upfront purchases.
Geopolitical pressures and material scarcity have made these options more attractive. Businesses increasingly recognize that circular approaches can decouple growth from rising resource consumption. Signify reports that customers facing supply constraints view these models as ways to maintain operations while meeting efficiency requirements.
What matters now: Signify’s 2030 targets translate broad resilience goals into concrete actions that affect energy use, material flows, and customer operations across multiple sectors.
The company’s continued work on these fronts positions it to support both its own stability and that of its clients amid ongoing market shifts. By linking lighting solutions to wider outcomes in health, food systems, and renewable access, Signify contributes to measurable progress on global sustainability objectives through 2030 and beyond.
