Explanation of the Sustainably developed
Goals

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Health is a precious asset that is particularly important to us as an employer. With our occupational health management, we create the framework for a workplace where physical and mental well-being is important. With our healthcare providers, we offer employees a modern product portfolio from occupational medicine to our Employee Assistance Program. This provides competent advice for employees and their family members living in the household in difficult professional and life situations. In addition, we inform and raise awareness about the importance of mental and physical health with the “Coffee & Destress” event series. Experts talk openly with employees about topics such as burnout, resilience, but also women’s and men’s health and nutrition.

For more information on our employee health management, see our ESG framework.

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Education and the reduction of disadvantages are core aspects of our efforts to increase social sustainability. This is why Commerz Real is committed to both the further training of its employees and to educational formats in the districts that we support in the regions of our two main locations as part of our corporate citizenship strategy “Deine Hood”.

For more information about our social commitment, please see our ESG framework.

At Commerz Real, we are convinced that traditional training offers are often no longer sufficient to keep pace with the ever-faster societal transformation. There is an increasing demand for solutions that are tailored to the individual needs of employees and their respective job environment - both in terms of expertise and technology as well as in terms of time and location. “Lernzeit+” offer fully meets these requirements. It follows the guiding principle “Learn what and when you want.” Since 2022, all employees have been able to spend up to twelve hours of their working hours per quarter on further training or taking part in training offers of their choice. This offer is supplemented by regular virtual information formats that teach employees about topics such as sustainability and digitalization.

For more information on our commitment to employee development, please see our ESG framework.

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

The work of our two social partner organisations in neighbourhoods with high social needs in Wiesbaden and Düsseldorf focuses particularly on the situation of women and girls. They are the ones who are particularly often affected by precarious living and family conditions. Through needs-based, target-group-specific and low-threshold offers, our charity partners contribute to increasing the education and participation opportunities of young girls and women. As part of our corporate citizenship strategy, we support established programs and the necessary infrastructure with financial, time and non-cash donations.

For more information about our social commitment, please see our ESG framework.

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

As part of the Commerzbank Group's Net Zero strategy, Commerz Real AG has set itself the goal of reducing all of its own operations to net zero by 2040.We have been purchasing exclusively green electricity for our main locations in Wiesbaden and Düsseldorf since 2019 and 2022 respectively. We also supply the 37 charging stations (as of July 2024) to supply employees’ electric vehicles with clean energy. In addition, we strive to reduce our operational energy consumption wherever possible. In addition to converting to LEDs, this also includes equipping employees with energy-saving IT hardware.

For more information on our progress in energy procurement, please see our ESG framework.

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Qualified and motivated employees are the basis for the business success of Commerz Real AG. Around 800 colleagues around the world contribute their knowledge and experience to the work processes. The basic understanding of fairness and respectful treatment as well as diversity in practice is firmly anchored in our corporate values and our principles of conduct.

For more information about our principles of cooperation, please see our Code of Conduct.

Reduce inequality within and among countries

Reducing inequalities is a core objective of the work of our social partners. The organizations provide needs-based and low-threshold offers aimed at increasing the education and participation opportunities of those affected. Through our collaboration, we support programs and projects that create public, safe and inclusive spaces. In the past, this has already included financing community facilities, support for renovation work and the creation of community gardens with playgrounds. These measures promote social interaction and create meeting places that are often missing in these districts.

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Social work requires public, safe and inclusive spaces. As part of our district partnerships, a focus of our commitment is therefore on the facilities of our charitable partner organizations, which are the first point of contact for local social work. Our contribution so far has ranged from financing a kitchen to providing practical support for painting the walls and creating a public garden with a playground. Attractive places create opportunities for encounters that are often not a given in districts with high social needs.

For more information about our social commitment, please see our ESG framework.

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

A joint task of our sustainability unit together with the organizational department is to systematically promote corporate environmental protection in all its facets and with the involvement of employees in order to continuously make the actions of Commerz Real more sustainable. The main objectives include optimizing resource consumption, increasing the use of renewable energies and reducing direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions.

With our Purchasing Policy, we have established in writing the consideration of sustainability aspects when purchasing goods and services. In addition to other qualitative factors, sustainability is included in the selection process for all purchases. With our Net Zero strategy, we are setting an additional focus on the topic of sustainable sourcing: By 2040, we aim for a climate-neutral supplier portfolio. To this end, we will be requesting information on sustainable orientation from all service providers in our onboarding tool from 2024 onwards. In this way, we are laying the foundation for jointly steering towards zero emissions with our suppliers and service providers.

For more information about our commitment to sustainable operations, see our ESG framework.

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

With our net-zero strategy, we have set ourselves an ambitious goal: By 2040, the company’s own emissions are to be reduced to net zero. To achieve this goal, we have been measuring our operational CO₂ footprint annually since 2020. This serves as the basis for setting strategic priorities for reduction measures. In addition to practical measures such as the electrification of our fleet by 2030, this also includes anchoring sustainability requirements in the written regulations of Commerz Real. For example, the Group-wide Business Travel Policy contains provisions on the preference of rail travel over CO₂-intensive modes of mobility such as cars or air travel.

In addition to direct climate change mitigation measures, climate change formation is also an important concern. Here, too, Commerz Real makes its contribution - specifically through its social commitment. In cooperation with the non-profit organization Hope4School, we enable children to participate in so-called “climate camps”. The format playfully introduces children from schools in the partner districts to all topics related to climate change.

For more information about our commitment to climate change mitigation, see our ESG framework.

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build  effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Integrity is deeply rooted in our corporate culture and requires every individual to act responsibly so that their activities for Commerz Real are in line with the applicable laws, voluntary commitments and internal guidelines. The globally binding Code of Conduct provides employees with guidance on how to act correctly and ethically in their daily work. The focus of compliance activities is on preventing and detecting money laundering, terrorist financing, market abuse (insider trading and market manipulation), fraud, corruption and other criminal activities in the business environment as well as investor protection.

More information about our these topic can be found in our Code of Conduct.