The Supervisory Board, the Executive Board and the Board of Partners deal with sustainability matters in different ways. The Audit Committee of the Supervisory Board is presented with an assessment of the Group’s current risk portfolio once per year and the current implementation status of risk management twice per year. The Executive Board is briefed on the risk report at least twice per year.
In the meeting in February 2025, the Supervisory Board and the Audit Committee intensively dealt with the Annual Financial Statements and Consolidated Financial Statements prepared by the Executive Board. In this context, the Sustainability Statement was also discussed. The Sustainability Statement is presented to the Supervisory Board once per year. Previously, the Head of Corporate Sustainability, Quality and Trade Compliance (SQ) was responsible for the Sustainability Statement. She reports to the Chief People Officer. While the sustainability strategy and its implementation remain under SQ´s responsibility, the responsibility for the sustainability statement was transferred to the Head of Group Reporting on September 1, 2025. She reports to the Chief Financial Officer.
The Executive Board is responsible for preparing the Annual Financial Statements of the Group, including the Sustainability Statement. Our Human Rights Officer, the Head of SQ is responsible for monitoring due diligence obligations concerning human rights and environmental matters. The Executive Board is informed about the work of the Human Rights Officer and the implementation status of risk management and due diligence at least once per year.
Our Board of Partners and our Supervisory Board regularly monitor and discuss sustainability aspects and the sustainability strategy as part of the corporate strategy. Sustainability aspects, as part of the executive board’s compensation in the form of key performance indicators, fall under the responsibility of the Board of Partners.
When making decisions on major transactions, the administrative, management and supervisory bodies regularly consider the IROs and weigh them against one another by examining the advantages and disadvantages of the respective transaction. We also take sustainability matters into account when evaluating potential acquisitions, allocating operating expenditure, making decisions on capital expenditure, and in research and development. The following material IROs (see the respective identifiers in brackets) were addressed by the administrative, management and supervisory bodies or their relevant committees during the reporting period.
Executive Board
Transition plan for climate change mitigation, see E1 (E1-NI-01 to E1-NI-03; E1-R-01 and E1-R-02; E1-O-01)
Approval of the new sustainability key indicator for health and safety, see S1 (S1-PI-03)
Human rights, see S2 (S2-NI-01; S2-NI-02; S2-NI-03; S2-NI-04; S2-NI-05; S2-NI-06)
Adjustment of the first goal of the sustainability strategy, see S4 and G1 (S4-PI-05; G1-NI-01)