Our sustainability goals by 2025
Heading into a new dimension
Only companies that view the environment, business and society as inseparable parts of the same whole will succeed in the long term. TÜV Rheinland supports companies and organizations worldwide with its services in the transition to a climate-neutral and resource-conserving way of working and on the path to greater sustainability. At the same time, our sustainability strategy places the key sustainability issues at the center of our business activities. In this way, we will shape the shift toward greater sustainability in the future and change our environment and society for the positive.
TÜV Rheinland's sustainability strategy has evolved from a close examination of the urgent social and ecological challenges, the requirements of responsible corporate governance, and the demands of our stakeholders. We have conducted a multi-stage materiality analysis to determine the importance (relevance) that our internal and external stakeholders attach to various sustainability aspects and the impact that TÜV Rheinland's business activities have on them. Six categories emerged that were identified as particularly important for TÜV Rheinland. Categorization of our sustainability strategy was then supplemented by four other categories based on our values and our commitment as a member of the UN Global Compact. The 2025 goals focus on improvements for people, work and the planet.
Our experts work every day to improve our service quality, act with integrity and transparency, and deliver on our value proposition to our stakeholders. We aim to reduce our own environmental footprint along the value chain and take responsibility for everyone who works for TÜV Rheinland around the globe. Safety and fair opportunities, talent development and lifelong learning, and a diverse and cosmopolitan corporate culture are among our unchanging guiding principles. With these activities, we contribute to successful business development in the long term and at the same time support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
People
Focus on people: TÜV Rheinland relies on the expertise and commitment of its more than 20,000 employees. And takes responsibility for all those who work in this company around the globe. For us, safety and fair opportunities, targeted talent development, and a diverse, globally open corporate culture are central building blocks of sustainably successful business development - and at the same time support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including in the areas of gender equality (SDG 5), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8) and fewer inequalities (SDG 10).
Equal opportunities and a conscious approach to diversity are key issues for us. We aim to recognize the diverse achievements and experiences of our employees and embrace their potential, regardless of gender, age, nationality, sexual orientation or disabilities. This includes addressing inequalities where these stand in the way of fair participation.
Sabine Hager, Global Expert DiversityOur areas of focus:
- Employee safety
- Personnel development
- Labor rights
- Non-discrimination
- Diversity
Profession
In line with our mission statement, we aim to be the world's best sustainable and independent service group for testing, inspection, certification and training. We work every day to further improve our service quality, act with integrity and transparency, and deliver on our value proposition to our stakeholders. With our strategic focus in this area, we contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SDG 12) and Peace, Justice and Rigid Institutions (SDG 16).
It is particularly important in a global context to raise the awareness of all employees to compliance and legal conformity issues. TÜV Rheinland will in future increasingly focus on digitalized and centralized training formats.
Björn Clüsserath, Global Officer Legal & ComplianceOur areas of focus:
- Service quality
- Data integrity
- Legal compliance
- Business ethics
Planet
We are facing the challenge of contributing to the transition to a climate-neutral and resource-conserving economy. We use our know-how in a targeted manner to also reduce our own ecological footprint along the value chain. This is our contribution to the United Nations' Action for Climate Protection goal (SDG 13).
Climate change is affecting every country on every continent. What motivates me is wanting to make a real contribution to TÜV Rheinland's greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. After installing a photovoltaic system on the roof of our TÜV Rheinland office in Shanghai, we have been producing our own solar power. This is not only reducing energy costs, but also our greenhouse gas emissions. The success here has made us want to equip our sites in Qingdao and Taicang with PV systems as well.
Yiko Ye, Regional HSE Manager Greater ChinaOur areas of focus:
- Reduce GHG emissions by -29.4% in Scopes 1 and 2 and by -17.5% in Scopes 3.3 and 3.6 by 2025 compared to 2018
- In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we want to be greenhouse gas-compensated in these scopes by 2028.
How we shape and live sustainability
We combine the absolute necessity for sustainability with an elementary conviction: "Only companies that act economically, ecologically and socially in a comprehensive sense will be successful in the long term."
On this basis, we are following our mission statement of being the world's best and most trusted partner for new technologies and sustainable services in testing, inspection, certification and training with a clear sustainability strategy for the coming years.
Find out what steps we have taken and how we at TÜV Rheinland are making our contribution to greater sustainability.
