The Supervisory Board, the Executive Board and the Board of Partners deal with sustainability matters in different ways. The Executive Board presents the Audit Committee of the Supervisory Board with an assessment of the Group’s current risk portfolio once a year and the current implementation status of risk management twice a year.
At the meeting in February 2024, the Supervisory Board and the Audit Committee dealt intensively with the Annual and Consolidated Financial statements prepared by the Executive Board as well as with the Non-financial Statement. The Head of Corporate Sustainability, Quality and Trade Compliance (SQ) presents the Non-financial Statement to the Supervisory Board annually. SQ reports to the Member of the Executive Board and CEO of Healthcare. The Executive Board is informed about the risk report at least twice a year.
The Executive Board is responsible for preparing the annual financial statements including the non-financial statement for the Group. Our Human Rights Officer from the Group function SQ is responsible for monitoring human rights and environmental due diligence. 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 a year.
Our Board of Partners regularly monitors and discusses sustainability matters within the scope of the Executive Board remuneration in the form of performance indicators and as part of the company’s annual strategy.
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, deciding on capital expenditure, as well as 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-06; E1-R-01 and E1-R-02; E1-O-01)
- Circular economy, including a new target, see E5 (E5-PI-01)
- Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, see S1 (S1-NI-03; S1-NI-04; S1-PI-02; S1-PI-03)
- Human rights, see S2 (S2-NI-01; S2-NI-03; S2-NI-04; S2-NI-05; S2-NI-06; S2-NI-07)
- Animal welfare, including targets, see G1 (G1-NI-01)
Supervisory Board:
- Climate change and emission reduction, see E1 (E1-NI-01 to E1-NI-06; E1-R-01 and E1-R-02; E1-O-01)
- Transition plan for climate change mitigation, see E1 (E1-NI-01 to E1-NI-06; E1-R-01 and E1-R-02; E1-O-01)
- Circular economy, including a new target, see E5 (E5-PI-01)
- Results of Employee Engagement Survey, see S1 (S1-NI-01; S1-NI-02; S1-NI-03; S1-NI-04; S1-PI-01; S1-PI-02; S1-PI-03)
- Geopolitical risks and their relevance for business development, see S2 (S2-R-01)