DZ HYP publishes Sustainability Report 2019

DZ HYP’s most recent Sustainability Report documents the progress the Bank made during 2019 in the ecological, economic and social spheres. For the first time, the report was prepared using the reporting format based on the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). As a result, the information provided by the Bank on key fields of action, measures, goals and metrics has become even more transparent.

Jörg Hermes, who has been a member of the DZ HYP Management Board since April 2020 and whose responsibilities include organising the Bank’s sustainability activities, says: “Sustainability is not contrary to economic objectives. We need to stop perceiving these to be conflicting targets.“ In late 2019, the Bank created a Sustainability Committee comprising all Division Heads, which meets regularly to analyse and discuss current developments, and to ultimately integrate such developments into the Bank.

For DZ HYP, the key issues of 2019 included demographic developments and retrofit measures to increase energy efficiency. The Bank adopted a demography concept to prepare for future challenges such as the shortage of skilled workers, digitalisation and the impending retirement of the baby boomer generation.

The renovation and refurbishment programme, which was initiated at the Hamburg and Munster head offices in 2018 to improve the Bank’s environmental performance and make it more flexible in the use of workplaces, continued during the year under review. Ongoing works at our Hamburg head offices are scheduled for completion this year. The works in Munster will continue into 2021, but a re-certification with the “ÖkoProfit” label has already been granted. According to a preliminary assessment by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), both offices fulfil the criteria for certification in the “Silver” or even “Gold” category, thanks to their significantly improved environmental performance.

As a part of the DZ BANK Group, DZ HYP continues to participate in Group-wide strategies and action plans. The results of this collaboration include, for example, the introduction of a Group-wide database structure, common supplier standards and the development of a policy on sustainability in lending, as well as the climate strategy.

DZ HYP’s Sustainability Report is now available for download. To read the full interview with Jörg Hermes, click here.