Lighthouse projects in the area of sustainability in corporate management
Two ICV corporate members in the final for the German Sustainability Award 2023
Two ICV corporate members have made it into the finalists for the German Sustainability Award 2023 [Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitspreis 2023], Europe's largest award for ecological and social commitment. Nominated in the "Company" category were Lenzing AG for the supply chain transformation field and Lidl Dienstleisungs GmbH & Co.KG for the climate transformation field.
Lenzing Aktiengesellschaft, based in the town of the same name in Austria, produces pulp and fibers. This means that it is at the beginning of the value chain in the manufacture of textiles and fleece products. As a partner to the textile and fashion industry, Lenzing is committed to making it more sustainable. The non-profit organization CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), founded in 2000, has already awarded the company the AAA label for this ecological leadership role in the areas of climate protection, water safety and forest protection. In the past three decades, Lenzing has decisively developed the lyocell process further and brought it to commercial maturity. With this, fibers are obtained from wood. The wood-based cellulose fibers are biodegradable, making them a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based fibers such as polyester. Lenzing is currently striving for climate neutrality with new products that are designed to be CO2-neutral and even CO2-positive. In addition, the company drives the transformation of the textile and nonwovens industries into a circular economy.
Lidl Dienstleistung GmbH & Co. KG is part of the Schwarz group of companies based in Neckarsulm, Germany, and is one of the leading food retailers in Europe with 11,550 branches in 31 countries. As a discounter, Lidl focuses on an optimized price-performance ratio. Process-oriented, simple actions determine actions. In addition, Lidl deliberately focuses on six strategic focus topics related to sustainability, which is the reason for the nomination for the German Sustainability Award:
- protect the climate
- respect biodiversity
- conserve resources
- act fairly
- promote health
- lead a conversation
Responsibility for sustainability lies with the CEO. The CSR/Sustainability department reports to him. She takes on the strategic orientation and coordinates the sustainability activities. The department is also partially responsible for operational implementation and stakeholder management. Representatives from each relevant company division form the "CSR expert team".
Our corporate members – an overview
Integration of sustainability goals in controlling: Deutsche Post DHL Group wins the ICV Controlling Excellence Award 2022
The ICV Controlling Excellence Award 2022 goes to Deutsche Post DHL Group. The winning project deals with the integration of ESG dimensions in controlling and corporate management. Employees from the previous carbon accounting team in the finance department, from sustainability communication and from corporate strategy have been brought together in a new department and are now responsible for reporting processes and controlling for all three ESG dimensions. The Group's ESG goals were translated into operational and financial targets in order to identify reliable key figures for reporting and controlling the ESG roadmap. A comprehensive internal reporting system for ESG key figures and ESG measures was set up. This can now be found regularly in business reviews and performance meetings. Anchoring in the internal management system ensures quality. The process for investment decisions has also been expanded to include demanding ESG criteria. "As a result, the Deutsche Post DHL Group now has something that is still a dream of the future for most companies: a largely complete controlling system that is embedded in the financial organization to manage ESG measures," emphasizes Head of the Jury of the Controlling Excellence Award Prof. Dr. Utz Schäffer at the laudatory speech at the Award ceremony on Monday, May 9, 2022 in Munich.
Kärcher wins the German Sustainability Award 2022
The ICV is proud of its corporate members, who often do pioneering work in important areas. Alfred Kärcher SE & Co.KG, for example, offers excellent solutions in the field of sustainability. It received the German Sustainability Award 2022 for its exemplary use of resources. It is Europe's largest award for ecological and social commitment.
In the justification, the jurors particularly emphasized the well thought-out initiative "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" of the world market leader for cleaning technology. By 2025, the proportion of recycled plastic in selected Kärcher products will be increased to up to 50 percent. And the numerous initiatives in the course of the Packaging Strategy 2025 also convince the experts: for example, intelligent packaging design that uses fewer materials, no polystyrene, use of paper instead of plastic cushions and more packaging with a high proportion of waste paper.
In addition, the jury emphasized that Kärcher's resource strategy is embedded in a comprehensive sustainability concept. This includes, among other things, free cleaning campaigns to preserve historical monuments or support for the construction of green filter systems that ensure clean water in emerging countries in an ecologically compatible manner.
Hartmut Jenner, Chairman of the Management Board of Alfred Kärcher SE & Co. KG: “I am delighted that the ingenuity and drive of our employees has been recognized with this prestigious award. Sustainability is in Kärcher's genes. This year, for example, we achieved that all of our plants worldwide produce CO2-free. We have set ourselves further goals by 2025: among other things, the increased use of modern recycled plastics or a pilot production without plastic waste.”
The independent jury of twelve experts from different fields selected Kärcher as the winner from the seven finalists in the “Resources transformation field” category. The German Sustainability Award 2022 was presented on December 3, 2021 in Düsseldorf at the 14th German Sustainability Day.
BASF wins the Green Controlling Award 2021 for SCOTT
In 2021, the Péter Horváth Foundation and the International Association of Controllers (ICV) jointly gave the Green Controlling Award for the best practical solution on the subject of controlling and sustainability. BASF was recognized for its method of calculating the product-related carbon footprint. The chemical company can use the digital “Strategic CO2 Transparency Tool” (SCOTT) to calculate the CO2 footprint for all of the around 45,000 products in its own portfolio. This ensures transparency for the company from Ludwigshafen and enables fine-tuned control options to further reduce emissions.
“We are proud of the Green Controlling Award - a great award for the entire project team. It encourages us to continue on our path of making our know-how and the digital solution available to other market participants via an ecosystem of partnerships," says Dr. Jochen Kurtz, Vice President Group Performance Management & Analytics.
Anyone who would like to experience the award winner and the award-winning solution live should come to the 46th Congress of Controllers on May 9/10, 2022 in Munich. Dr. Jochen Kurtz presents the current status of the project in the Topic Cluster Sustainability and also goes into the following areas in detail:
- BASF's digital solution for the automated calculation of all product carbon footprints
- Transparency as a lever for customer interactions and emission reductions
- Previous controlling skills are essential for the solution / new skills are required
- Standardization in the industry necessary for comparability of the footprints of end products
To the 46th Congress of Controllers
To the Green Controlling Award
To the winners of the Green Controlling Award
Product Carbon Footprint at BASF - an interview with the winner of the Green Controlling Award 2021
Dr Jochen Kurtz, Vice President Group Performance Management & Analytics at BASF, provides insights into the project work of the digital "Strategic CO2 Transparency Tool" (SCOTT). This makes it possible to show the corresponding footprint for all around 45,000 products in the BASF portfolio. This transparency enables an overview and fine-tuned management and serves as a blueprint for other companies.
