Sustainability management system
Certified sustainability performance
Deutsche Bank has been using a group-wide sustainability management system in accordance with the international ISO 14001 standard as part of its total quality management since 1999. Besides environmental issues, the system also addresses the social and governance areas.
In 2010 during the course of the periodic audit, an external certifier confirmed that we have implemented our sustainability program in a manner that complies with the standard and that we have continuously improved our sustainability performance. The primary focus of our sustainability management system consists of in-depth audits that were conducted at 42 global business units and infrastructure functions. In line with our matrix certification they took place at our German locations in Frankfurt, Munich, and Hanover, as well as our international locations in New York and London. In addition, our locations in Milan and Tokyo were also audited and certified in 2010.
With our sustainability management system we have defined structures, processes, and responsibilities that ensure goal-oriented, effective implementation of our sustainability strategy. Our objective is to constantly improve the sustainability performance of Deutsche Bank in all areas – in our core business as a financial services provider, in our operational environmental protection measures, personnel management, and corporate management – and to recognize and rectify any possible undesirable developments at an early stage. We want to anchor our group-wide sustainability management system even more firmly at the regional level.
Organization and control of our sustainability management system
The primary responsibility for the sustainability policy of Deutsche Bank lies with the Management Board. The Group Sustainability Officer is responsible for operational implementation. He also coordinates the cooperation with more than 65 sustainability officers in the global divisions and infrastructure areas of the bank.
The Group Sustainability Officer agrees upon the goals of our sustainability program as well as the measures that serve to implement it jointly with the responsible individuals at the management level. Central bodies ensure a direct exchange on sustainability issues and interdivisional coordination matters relating to sustainability. The Group Sustainability Officer is a member of the interdivisional Environmental Steering Committee (ESC) and is involved in the consultations of the Group Reputational Risk Committee on thematic issues with ESG relevance.
In conjunction with their sustainability program, the business units and infrastructure areas of the bank have, among others, undertaken to raise employees’ awareness and to inform them about the subject of sustainability. In order to support this goal, we have developed an online-based learning program that has been available on our internal training platform since 2009. It vividly illustrates how important sustainable action is for the success and future of the bank. In 2010 we focused on increasing the number of participants significantly.
Our current sustainability program period will ended in 2011. We intend to set ourselves ambitious goals again for the new certification cycle from 2012–2014.
