Strategy and targets

Sustainability is a management task at thyssenkrupp

Sustainability is a core component of our corporate strategy. We aim to supply innovative products, technologies and services worldwide that contribute to the sustainable success of our customers.

Together with our customers we are looking to the future, and our decision-making processes include both business considerations and ecological and social aspects. The basis for this is a 360 degree view of our value and production chains. In this way we improve our performance and strengthen the future of our company.

The Chairman of the Executive Board bears responsibility for sustainability. Sustainability activities at thyssenkrupp are managed and developed by the Sustainability Committee, which consists of the Executive Board from the thyssenkrupp AG, the CEOs of the segments, the Heads of Corporate Centers and experts. The Committee takes decisions on thyssenkrupp's overall sustainability strategy, including the setting and monitoring of targets as well as the review and implementation of key stakeholders' expectations.

Furthermore, a dedicated Sustainability Council, consisting of representatives of the segments, the services lines and group functions of thyssenkrupp AG, implements key processes and coordinates data collection processes as well as initiatives in the frame of thyssenkrupp’s sustainability strategy.

Indirect Financial Targets to secure continuous improvement

thyssenkrupp aims to continuously improve its sustainability performance.
In this frame, the Sustainability Committee has set Indirect Financial Targets (IFTs) in the areas of technology and innovations, environment, climate, energy, purchasing and people. Since fiscal year 2020 / 2021 we have been integrating sustainability activities gradually into the long-term compensation (Long-Term-Incentive) of the Executive Board and top-level management through the IFTs. This has already been implemented for the proportion of women in leadership positions and the accident frequency rate. To reflect our climate targets, since fiscal 2021 / 2022, CO₂ emissions intensity, calculated as the total of scope 1 and scope 2 emissions relative to sales, excluding the steel business and, with reference to the steel business, the volume of net CO₂-reduced steel has been integrated into long-term compensation. For fiscal year 2022 / 2023, we integrated the improvement in our employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS), which is determined as part of the annual employee satisfaction survey, into long-term compensation for the first time and the increase in the proportion of women in leadership positions was once again included. For the current fiscal year, 2023 / 2024, long-term compensation includes the newly developed indicator High Risk Supplier Reduction (HSR), which measures the annual reduction in the proportion of suppliers classified as potentially risky in the initial risk analysis performed in accordance with the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains (LkSG) relative to the population of potentially risky suppliers. In this way, we aim to achieve a general reduction in the risk of violating the legal provisions of this legislation in respect of environmental protection, human rights, and occupational safety within our portfolio of suppliers. Further, if other risks are identified in the annual and ad-hoc risk analysis, these must be mitigated as soon as possible by prompt measures that is consistent with the provisions of the legislation (Further details can be found in the Compensation report). All established IFTs are aligned to the aim of continuous improvement and are constantly being adjusted and extended in parallel with our ongoing strategic development.

The target for the current fiscal year 2023/2024 is to improve energy efficiency by at least 205 GWh. The aim is to reduce the emissions intensity excluding the steel activities by 1 ton CO₂ per million € sales to 34.5 tons CO₂ per million € sales in fiscal year 2024 / 2025. In the present fiscal year 2023 / 2024, adjusted R&D intensity should be around 3.0%. The target for the accident frequency previously set for the group for the planning period has been reduced by 0.1 points as the targets were achieved ahead of schedule in recent years: Accordingly, our revised target is to improve the accident frequency rate to 2.2 by fiscal year 2023 / 2024. Across the entire company, we aim to increase the proportion of women in leadership positions to 15% in the current fiscal year and to 17% by fiscal year 2025 / 2026. We are aiming to increase employee Net Promoter Scores by 3.0 points per year and to improve them to a value of >0 by the 2025 / 2026 fiscal year. The newly developed High Risk Supplier Reduction (HSR) indicator will be implemented as a new IFT at group level from the present fiscal year, analogously to its integration into long-term compensation. In the future, this indicator will be used to report how the measures we take reduce sustainability risks in our supplier portfolio. It therefore replaces the previous IFT for the number of sustainability audits performed. The target for the HSR to reduce the proportion of suppliers classified as potentially risky in the initial risk analysis performed in accordance with the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chain (LkSG) relative to the total population of potentially risky suppliers to 68.9% in fiscal year 2023 / 2024 and to 36.4% by fiscal year 2026 / 2027, which would be a total improvement of just under 50 percentage points.

Integrated reporting approach

thyssenkrupp provides continuous and fully integrated reporting on its sustainability performance in its annual report and on its corporate website, based a set of national and international standards like the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the UN Global Compact, Greenhouse Gas Protocol, Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), IFRS and others as well as applicable regulations like the German Commercial Code (HGB), the EU CSR Directive and the German Accounting Standards (DRS). The company does not publish a printed sustainability report or a separate online report. All essential content is published in our annual reporting and additional information on our webpages.