GRI
The issue of sustainability is the responsibility of the full Management Board; it is coordinated by the Group Strategy holding unit and developed in partnership with all organisational units of the Group.
In the course of the Group-wide strategy project “LOOP”, see Corporate strategy 2035, organisational and content-related steps have been defined with a view to ensuring timely implementation of the CSRD within the Group. Alongside the implementation of ESG sustainability management as part of Group strategy and ESG data management in the Controlling and Risk Management holding unit, other committees including an ESG steering committee and an ESG lab for control and preparation for decision-making have been planned at holding level, with the required interfaces defined. In future, the committees will report directly to the Management Board, which has overall responsibility for sustainability agendas.
In keeping with its legal obligations, the Supervisory Board continues to audit the non-financial report as part of the Group Internal Audit, reporting its findings to the General Meeting.
The implementation of strategic goals in the sustainability area is assured by linking them closely to the structured annual strategy process. The relevant management teams are responsible for implementing ESG strategies in the business and service divisions. To ensure ongoing exchanges on ESG topics between the holding company and the business and service divisions in future, we also plan to establish an ESG Partner Platform committee with the ESG contact persons already established for all areas of the Group.
As regards the substantial requirements of the CSRD, a detailed roadmap, including the timing for the necessary steps, has been drawn up. More strategic definitions and necessary steps will be devised and implemented as part of a wide-ranging ESG implementation project as from the 2023/2024 fiscal year.