For us, sustainability means permanently creating value for all stakeholder groups: for customers, employees, and investors as well as for our business partners and society as a whole. Therefore, we have “sustainable business strategies” — for each one of our business divisions.
To be specific, we have defined nine sustainability topics: six areas of action and three so-called enablers. You could also call these basic principles or factors for success.
Area of action "climate protection and air quality": With the „Ambition2039“ we defined concrete targets for our contribution to climate protection.
Area of action "resource conservation": We want to turn our value chain into a value creation cycle that is as closed as possible.
Area of action "livable cities". With innovative mobility and transport solutions, we want to make a significant contribution to improving the quality of life in cities.
Area of action "traffic safety": Security is part of our DNA. Our vision is and remains accident-free driving with comprehensive protection for all road users.
Area of action "data responsibility": We take advantage of the opportunities offered by digitization. At the same time, we handle data responsibly. Three basic principles apply: Transparency, self-determination and data security.
Area of action "human rights": For Daimler, respect for human rights is a fundamental aspect of responsible corporate governance.
Enabler "integrity": All our integrity measures are designed to have a lasting effect. They contribute to the ongoing development of our culture of integrity throughout the company.
Enabler "people": By guaranteeing employment until the end of 2029, we provide Daimler AG employees with long-term security in times of massive change. At the same time, we ensure that our employees are well prepared for challenges such as the digitalization of the world of work.
Find out in the brief version of Daimler’s Sustainability Report 2020 which goals we have set ourselves and how we plan to achieve them. Further relevant documents such as the complete Sustainability Report 2020 or our key figures on employees and environmental protection can be found here.
ESG disclosure at Daimler
In April 2015, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors asked the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to review how the financial sector can take account of climate-related issues. The FSB established the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) to develop voluntary, consistent climate-related financial disclosures that would be useful to investors, lenders, and insurance underwriters in understanding material risks.
The TCFD’s members were chosen by the FSB to include both users and preparers of disclosures from across the G20’s constituency covering a broad range of economic sectors and financial markets. As one of six industrial firms, Daimler contributed to the development of the recommendations that were published in June 2017.
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) is an independent nonprofit organization that sets standards to guide the disclosure of financially material sustainability information by companies to their investors.
SASB Standards identify the subset of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues most relevant to financial performance in 77 industries. Global investors recognize SASB Standards as a core component of a company’s ESG disclosures.
CDP is a non-profit charity that runs the global environmental disclosure system. CDP scores companies’ environmental performance and gives capital markets and companies the data they need for comprehensive and environmental decision making.
Currently, over 10,000 companies, cities, states and regions are using CDP to disclose environmental data.
In 2015, CDP was a founding partner of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which provides a framework for companies and financial institutions to set emissions targets in line with the level of decarbonization required to meet the Paris agreement’s temperature goals.
Since 2018, CDP aligned its Climate Change Questionnaires with the TCFD’s recommendations and adopted the forward-looking approach to climate-risk disclosure.
Daimler discloses details on climate-related activities for more than 15 years through CDP.
In 2020, Daimler again achieved the Leadership category with an A-.
The letters ESG stand for Environment, Social and Corporate Governance. These non-financial criteria are used when assessing investments or business practices. ESG information is used by players in the financial markets, such as pension funds or asset managers, as a complement to their fundamental economic analysis work.
Green Finance at Daimler
More and more investors are making their investment decisions on the basis of criteria such as environmental protection, social conduct and fair corporate governance. They want to invest in companies with a sustainable business strategy. With our Green Finance Framework, we have created the conditions for sustainable finance instruments such as green bonds and green loans.
