An article by Melanie Kubin-Hardewig, Vice President Group Corporate Responsibility, Deutsche Telekom AG.
It is here, our new Sustainability Statement, which we are publishing today as part of the Annual Report. With many figures, data and facts on the environment, social issues and corporate governance.
What's new about our Sustainability Statement?
Deutsche Telekom has published a non-financial statement since 2017 and a separate Corporate Responsibility Report for over 20 years. So what's new about it?
The Sustainability Statement is CSRD-compliant. The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) ensures greater transparency in all ESG (environment, social and governance) dimensions that are essential to us. All content is prepared in accordance with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and has been confirmed by an external auditing firm.
Our CSRD-compliant statement shows where sustainable business is anchored throughout the Telekom footprint.
The report is a joint effort
A CSRD-compliant Sustainability Statement requires a great deal of effort and would not have been possible without the expertise from many areas of the Group. A report always describes only what is actually done. Therefore, a “look into the engine room” of the individual Executive Board divisions was the previous step.
Highlights
It is definitely worth taking a look at our Sustainability Statement. You will discover a lot of facts and figures on the following essential topics:
Climate change: We are well on track to net zero.
Our transition plan shows how we intend to become climate-neutral along our value chain by 2040. We have already achieved a lot: We have reduced our CO 2 emissions by 25 percent compared to 2020. An important measure: The energy efficiency of our network has improved by 20 percent as a result of modernization measures, as evidenced by the KPI "Energy Intensity" (= energy consumption per transported data volume). Consumption fell from 70kWh/terabyte in 2023 to 56kWh/terabyte in 2024.
Resource use and circular economy: We are making our technology and devices circular by 2030.
We are successively increasing our circularity. In Germany and Europe, we took back 5.5 million devices. We have achieved our goal of “Zero ICT Waste to Landfill” in Germany and Europe since 2022. We dispose of and recycle 100 percent of electrical waste properly. Since the end of 2022, we have only been using plastic-free packaging for all new Telekom-branded devices and all smartphones sold.
Own workforce: 198,194 employees guarantee our success every day.
38 percent of our employees work in Germany and 62 percent internationally. Our values and standards are anchored in our Code of Human Rights and drive our actions. Our Health & Safety measures empower and strengthen our employees. 28 percent of our top management are women and 37.5 percent of DTAG's Executive Board are female. By 2025, we aim to achieve a Group-wide share of 30 percent women in management positions.
Workers in the value chain: We take responsibility for our supply chain.
When suppliers sign our Supplier Code, they commit to our principles and values. This means that they must meet our sustainability requirements. Random checks and dialogues support the implementation. Audits take place as part of the “Joint Alliance for CSR” industry initiative, which we co-founded. It includes 29 global telecommunications companies. We support our suppliers and employees with web-based human rights training.
Consumers and end-users: We connect people and promote democratic values in the digital world.
We shape the digital society. In 2024, our engagement was worth around 1.1 billion euros to us. Between 2024 and 2027, we aim to support more than 80 million people across the Telekom footprint with our measures for the digital society. In 2024 alone, 34 million people worldwide have already benefited from our commitment. Our measures include media literacy programs such as “Teachtoday” in Europe or “Project 10Million” in the USA.
Governance: We are fair and compliant.
We have clearly defined guidelines for our compliance:
the Code of Conduct and corporate guidelines apply always and everywhere. We do not tolerate corruption! Employees and external parties can report violations of legal provisions and internal company regulations via “TellMe” and T-Mobile US's “Integrity Line”, our whistleblower portals.
Sustainability is key: ESG is a responsibility for the boss AND a team task.
The CEO of Deutsche Telekom is responsible for Group Corporate Responsibility. All areas of the Management Board contribute to the fulfilment of the sustainability goals. A Group-wide understanding of roles and common tasks facilitate implementation. Sustainable action pays off: In addition to financial performance indicators, the indicators “Energy consumption” and “CO2 emissions” (Scope 1 + 2) as well as “Customer satisfaction” and “Employee satisfaction” determine the amount of variable remuneration.
Our sustainable business goes hand in hand with our goals – for society and the environment. We are sticking to that.
I wish you an exciting read.
By the way: If you would like to be informed about other “ESG” topics beyond the sustainability statement, our Corporate Responsibility Report will be published in the second quarter of the year.
