Our Guiding Principle
“We aim to be the world's best sustainable and independent service provider for testing, inspection, certification, consulting and training. It is this common vision that guides us.“
Making life safer - TÜV Rheinland began with this claim 150 years ago. To this day, it is our mission and our responsibility to protect people, property and the environment from any potential technical risks.
Our Values
For TÜV Rheinland, long-term profitable growth is inseparably linked to responsible and ethical corporate governance. In our daily work, we are guided by solid values: Integrity, Excellence, Customer Orientation, Performance Orientation and Agility. Essential principles that TÜV Rheinland has defined and documented in a Code of Conduct. For our stakeholders and ourselves, this Code of Conduct is one of the essential pillars of a future-proof sustainability strategy.
Our sustainability management
Trends come and go. In its 150-year history TÜV Rheinland has experienced many cycles of change. Sustainability, however, is not a trend, but has been the foundation of our business for a very long time. In the future, we will continue to closely follow the principles of sustainability. That is what our new sustainability strategy reflects.
Achim Ernst, Global Officer Corporate DevelopmentThe development and implementation of TÜV Rheinland's sustainability strategy lies within the responsibility of the Global Officer Corporate Development. This person coordinates closely with the CEO, the Executive Board and the wider management circle.
In addition, a Steering Committee began work in 2021. Its purpose is to systematically advance implementation of the strategy in collaboration with the Management Board. In addition to the Global Officer Corporate Development, the committee also includes the Category Owners, as responsible for the topics of the sustainability strategy, as well as the Global Officers Finance & Accounting and Communication.
Platinum status in the EcoVadis rating
We have our sustainability performance externally assessed by the independent sustainability rating platform EcoVadis. This is based on international CSR standards such as the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative, the ILO and ISO 26000. TÜV Rheinland has been rated since 2019, achieving silver status in 2020, gold status in the following two years and now platinum. The platinum award confirms that we are on the right track with our sustainability strategy.
Our Commitment to the UN Global Compact
In a globally connected world, transformation to a sustainable society can only be achieved in close cooperation with other stakeholder. This also applies to TÜV Rheinland. As a member of the UN Global Compact, we have been dedicated to aligning our strategies and activities with the accepted principles of responsible corporate governance since 2006.
The UN Global Compact is the world's largest and most important initiative for sustainable and responsible corporate conduct. Its members are committed to 10 fundamental values in the areas of human rights, labor standards, anti-corruption, and environmental protection. In dialogue with various stakeholders and interest groups, we contribute our ideas while receiving valuable impetus for the sustainable development of TÜV Rheinland. This is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 17. It calls for greater collective effort and revitalized global partnerships to achieve the sustainability goals of the global community.
UN Global Compact Network Germany
Sustainable development cannot be achieved by one stakeholder alone. Many companies are taking their first steps, others already have a learning curve behind them. Working out solutions together, cooperating with different players, sharing knowledge and experience – this opportunity is opened up by the multi-stakeholder network UN Global Compact Germany and the work done in the steering committee.
Katharina Riese, Corporate Development Senior Manager CSR & SustainabilityWithin the UN Global Compact Network Germany (also the German Global Compact Network (DGCN)), we work together with representatives from business, non-governmental organizations, academia and the public sector to develop strategies and solutions for achieving sustainability goals. As a member of the advisory board of the DGCN Foundation, TÜV Rheinland is in an advisory capacity on the steering committee of the UN Global Compact Network Germany.
In this role, we are especially involved in the topics of corruption prevention and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the same time, we have expanded our activities into the area of integrity and are engaged in a working group established by the UN Global Compact Network Germany and the Alliance for Integrity to exchange relevant strategies and best practices.
The Relevance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Aligned with the SDGs
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations articulate ambitious goals for sustainable development. They oblige all stakeholder to contribute to their attainment. Such as TÜV Rheinland. With our Sustainability Strategy 2025, we have set the course to increase our positive impact on the SDGs in the People, Planet and Profession areas, and to minimize negative impacts.
Embedded in the SDGs
Our stakeholders have defined the topics of service quality, compliance, business ethics, data integrity, employee development, and safe working conditions as particularly relevant for TÜV Rheinland. In addition, we have added the categories of anti-discrimination, labor rights, diversity, and climate protection. They arise from our values and our own aspirations as a member of the UN Global Compact. These ten areas form the core of TÜV Rheinland's sustainability strategy.
In line with the three-pillar model of sustainability, we have assigned each of these ten categories to the People, Planet, and Profession areas and defined specific topic areas on which our actions are aimed. Using key performance indicators and metrics, we have defined precise targets that we wish to achieve by 2025. They make it possible to analyze the impact of the measures on achieving the SDGs.
In this way, TÜV Rheinland demonstrates our ambition to contribute to resolving environmental and social challenges and to shape our own value proposition in a sustainable manner. An overview of the contributions we are making to the SDGs:
Sustainable Procurement
TÜV Rheinland goes beyond its internal corporate activities to put into practice the principles of the UN Global Compact. The basis on how we work with external suppliers is sustainability, responsible action and compliance.
We expect our suppliers to uphold the same high standards of social responsibility as we uphold. We aim to identify and manage the environmental, social and economic impacts within our supply chains.
Clear guidelines on sustainable procurement
TÜV Rheinland procures goods as well as services via suppliers. For the required goods and services, standards and preferred suppliers are specified. Working together with any supplier is based on tender conditions and general terms and conditions of purchase.
We have also produced the TÜV Rheinland Supplier Code of Conduct (SCoC) to ensure that our requirements for sustainable corporate governance are also incorporated into our supplier relationships. SCoC is based on the principles of the UN Global Compact. Since 2021, preferred suppliers have been obliged to comply with SCoC as part of our sustainable procurement policy. Our Supplier Code of Conduct is available in multiple languages in order to establish a common global understanding of values with our business partners. We aim to use only suppliers whose business activities comply with the principles of SCoC. As part of our supplier qualification process and in addition to our own risk assessment, we require our suppliers to provide detailed information about their business practices via self-assessment. This also involves TÜV Rheinland conducting discussions with suppliers.
Creating transparency in purchasing and tendering is another instrument to promote sustainable procurement. Products providing a more sustainable alternative are specially labeled. The aim here is to enable sustainability to be incorporated into purchasing decision-making. Products that display this labeling indicate, for example, environmental information on energy efficiency and recycling, as well as any environmental certification.
Sustainability Reports
TÜV Rheinland has been committed to sustainable action for more than ten years and reports annually on its activities in this regard. Learn more about how we identify our fields of action and live sustainability.
