Elevating our commitment to climate action

The global turbulence that marked 2022 continued in 2023. The environment included uncertainty for Vaisala, our customers, and the economy in general. This was especially visible in our Industrial Measurements business. Nevertheless, Vaisala showed resilience and adapted well in a fast-changing and unpredictable environment.

While the current market situation is difficult, our planet has an even bigger challenge to conquer. The Earth’s temperature is already up by 1.2°C and the 1.5°C target of the Paris Climate Agreement is slipping out of reach. Unless we all act, climate change will continue to harm the environment and add social as well as economic inequalities worldwide.

Reliable measurement instruments and intelligence – the very core of Vaisala – play a crucial role in helping us understand, mitigate, and adapt to climate change. Our world needs to unite to speed up efforts to reduce emissions, especially in energy, industry, and transportation. The COP28 commitment in December 2023 to transition away from fossil fuels is an important step to continue to build on.

All in for the planet through new purpose and brand

For close to 90 years, Vaisala has provided the cornerstone for understanding the weather and climate: reliable data. For decades, we have enabled our industrial customers to understand and improve their processes and make a mark on a more sustainable, resource-efficient future.

Our purpose has been a testament of our commitment to our customers and the planet. However, the alarming state of the planet calls for us to take an even stronger and more active role. Therefore, we worked on refining our purpose during 2023.

Our new purpose is Taking every measure for the planet. Maintaining the essence of our reason for being, our new purpose emphasizes our critical role in enabling data-driven climate action and shows our commitment to sustainability. With climate action and technology leadership at our core, we aim to reinforce our positive impact on the challenges of both our customers and the planet, and to drive sustainable and scalable growth.

To show our future direction, we are also refreshing our brand, which is revealed in connection with this Annual Report. Our new brand identity builds upon the strengths of Vaisala’s present and the opportunities of the future. You will still recognize the reliable partner dedicated to excellence, quality, and technology leadership – but with an elevated and more dynamic profile, committed to building a more sustainable future.

Expertise from science to AI

To enable climate action, we combine deep customer understanding with science-based technology leadership. Our expertise spans from measurement sensors and instruments to the latest artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. In 2023, our investments in research and development were 12.5% of our net sales.

During the year, we launched several new products. The year started with the launch of Polaris™, an optical inline process refractometer series for industrial liquid measurements. The Polaris platform optimizes manufacturing processes in various industries. It helps to improve product quality, enhance productivity, and save resources, energy, and time.

We also continued developing our subscription-based Vaisala Xweather data and software offering, with new self-serve subscription data sets and mapping APIs for lightning, maritime, renewable energy, road weather, and air quality. Together with the automotive industry, we continued to drive innovation in weather-aware assisted and ultimately autonomous driving.

Furthermore, we keep working to make our own products as sustainable as possible. In 2023, we introduced new radiosonde models that reduce the plastic content in the product by 66%, helping to reduce plastic waste originating from sounding operations.

The year 2023 also marked 50 years of our HUMICAP® innovation, the standard for humidity measurements in various industries worldwide. HUMICAP's reliability and precision have made it a foundational element of industrial measurements. It has allowed Vaisala to advance in its field and achieve the market leadership it has today.

Reducing our carbon footprint with science-based targets

Our commitment to the planet covers the sustainability of our solutions, operations, and the entire value chain worldwide. We have integrated the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) both to our strategic planning and to the development of new products for climate action. We continue our commitment to the UN Global Compact initiative and its 10 principles regarding human rights, labor standards, environment, and anti-corruption.

In 2023, we finalized our near-term science-based targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. We submitted our targets for validation by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in September. Our main opportunity to lower our footprint is by decreasing indirect Scope 3 emissions, which represent over 99% of Vaisala’s total emissions. We expect that SBTi will approve the targets in early 2024.

Together we thrive

We see it as vital to be a preferred employer for talented and engaged employees with diverse perspectives and backgrounds. We actively track employee engagement. In our annual Voice of People survey, 85% of our employees state that they are proud to work for Vaisala and our employee satisfaction score is 4.1/5. We are immensely grateful for the engagement and dedication, and are committed to improving our employee development and well-being further.

Moreover, we set our new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategy in 2022. This year, we have continued with our DEI work by building awareness, establishing Employee Resource Groups, and following quantitative key performance indicators.

To make an impact on the planet, we all need to work together – our employees, our customers, partners, and other stakeholders. We want to thank all of you for the collaboration in 2023. Let’s together continue to write a future success story where our joint success and the well-being of our planet go hand in hand.

Ville Voipio
Chair of the Board

Kai Öistämö
President and CEO