Sustainability Code: Deutsche Boerse publishes declaration of conformity
New database and signet lend sustainability code greater practical utility
Berlin, 05/07/2012 – Deutsche Boerse Group has presented a declaration of conformity towards the German Sustainability Code (GSC). Marlehn Thieme, Chairwoman of the Council for Sustainable Development, stresses the importance of this declaration: ‘Deutsche Boerse complies with the requirements of the GSC in the current reporting year 2011. This marks the arrival of the German Sustainability Code at the centre of the capital market.’
Julia Taeschner, Head of Corporate Responsibility, explains the motivation of Deutsche Boerse AG: ‘Promoting the transparency and standardisation of information on sustainability represents a central concern of the Deutsche Boerse Group in its function as an organiser of the capital market.’
The German Sustainability Code aspires to bring about a fundamental reorientation of business and society to sustainable development. In 2009, spurred on by the financial and economic crisis, the German Council for Sustainable Development began a consultation process with representatives of business, investors, financial analysts and researchers from which the GSC emerged. This advisory body of the German Federal Government adopted the Sustainability Code in October 2011 and recommended that it be used as a voluntary instrument. To date, 16 companies have made declarations of conformity towards the German Sustainability Code. On 25 June 2012, Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel paid tribute to the German Sustainability Code in her speech at the annual conference of the German Council for Sustainable Development. She declared that it represents a valuable orientation for sustainable economic activity: ‘The code enjoys the support of the Federal Government. We promote its application by even more companies.’
Information on the German Sustainability Code (GSC) is available with immediate effect in an even more user-friendly form through a database. A link to the database can be found on www.sustainabilitycode.org; interested individuals can now access reports on specific criteria and performance indicators through a drop-down menu. The development of the GSC database is being sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of a project of the SBI. The launch will allow capital market participants to better utilise the information via technical interfaces.
In this way, the Council for Sustainable Development is creating additional opportunities for the companies involved to network with analysts, investors and other interested parties.
The establishment of the database marks the beginning of the cooperation of the Council for Sustainable Development with the Sustainable Business Institute (SBI), publisher of the market platform www.sustainable-investment.org, which provides transparency on the investment criteria of funds for the German-speaking and the European market to investors, companies and journalists, among others. The German Council for Sustainable Development also cooperates with www.yoursri.com, one of the leading online databases in the world in the area of sustainable investments.
Companies and organisations can make their compliance with the standard of transparency known through a new signet. In future, the signet can be used by companies wishing to communicate their support in publicly effective ways. The signet comes in German and English versions.
According to Paschen von Flotow, Chairman of the Sustainable Business Institute: ‘The German Sustainability Code can prove to be a decisive step towards taking sustainability into account in investment decisions. A presupposition for this is that investors and analysts, as well as companies, now also use this instrument. The Sustainable Business Institute (SBI) will actively support its further dissemination.’
Oliver Oehri, Managing Partner at the Center for Social and Sustainable Products (CSSP), which operates yoursri.com, states: ‘The key issue is rapid international dissemination and integration into the world of sustainable investments. yourSRI.com is pleased to support the German Sustainability Code in this process at the global level.’
Additional information can be found on the project website www.sustainabilitycode.org.
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Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung, Office c/o GIZ
Katja Tamchina
Potsdamer Platz 10
D-10785 Berlin
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Fax: +49 (0)30 408190-22233
E-Mail: katja.tamchina@nachhaltigkeitsrat.de
The Council
The Council for Sustainable Development is made up of 15 public figures appointed by the German Chancellor for a 3-year term of office. The tasks of the Council include developing contributions to the national sustainable development strategy, specifying concrete fields of action and projects as well as helping to make sustainability a major public concern. The Council has free rein in its choice of topics and forms of action. Results of the ongoing work include, for example, the German Sustainability Code, the visions of the future project entitled "Vision 2050", comments on commodity policy, fiscal sustainability, organic farming, the projects of Workshop N, the strategy dialogue with mayors as well as contributions to the "green economy".
German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE)
German Council for
Sustainable Development (RNE)
Office c/o GIZ
Dr. Günther Bachmann
Potsdamer Platz 10
D-10785 Berlin, Germany
Ph.: +49 / 30 / 408190-122
Fax: +49 / 30 / 408190-125
E-Mail: guenther.bachmann@
nachhaltigkeitsrat.de
Web: www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de
Press contact
German Council for
Sustainable Development (RNE)
Office c/o GIZ
Katja Tamchina
Potsdamer Platz 10
D-10785 Berlin, Germany
Ph.: +49 / 30 / 408190-233
Fax: +49 / 30 / 408190-22233
E-Mail: katja.tamchina@
nachhaltigkeitsrat.de