Goals

Clear goals for greater sustainability

We have set ourselves a clear goal for each field of action in our sustainability strategy. To achieve these goals, we regularly measure our progress and communicate it in our annual progress report.

• Environment: We will be 2030 CO₂-free (net zero) by 2030 – by acting in a resource-saving manner in all areas of our business (scope 1–2 and selected scope 3 categories)¹.
• Markets: We will help our customers/users reduce their CO₂ emissions by 10% by 2030 (base year: 2015).
• Employees: We want to further improve the general conditions for employee engagement and so maintain our engagement score at the very high level of 80 in the period through to 2030.² 
• Partners: By the end of 2021, we want to calculate the CO₂ emissions of our supply chain and set an ambitious goal for CO₂-free upstream products.
• Society: We will create opportunities for our employees to invest at least 5,000 hours a year in promoting climate protection in society.

_{¹ Scopes 1-3 cover various kinds of climate-damaging emissions (GHG emissions): direct GHG emissions, indirect energy-related GHG emissions and further indirect GHG emissions.}

_{² The engagement score is determined as part of the ista-wide staff survey. On a scale from 0 to 100, it measures how strong the employees' work engagement is.}

Sustainability Management

Strong structures for implementation

Sustainability is an integral part of our corporate strategy. This is evident in our structures. Sustainability activities are the direct responsibility of the top management. The Sustainability Delegates coordinate our international activities, they bring ideas from their countries to the table. So we ensure that our sustainability engagement has a holistic, forward-looking focus. We use smart and innovative tools, including our corporate sustainability software, to ensure we keep improving our sustainability performance.

Standards

Clear principles that guide our actions

To shape change effectively, we are guided by internationally recognised external standards.

> Respect for human rights and international ethic standards

> Contributions to national and international climate and environmental policy

> Participation in the United Nations Global Compact

>Contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Values and Guiding Principles of the ista Identity

We link our financing to progress on sustainability – for added value that contributes to climate goals

In addition to the internationally recognised standards, we have defined internal values and guiding principles for our actions. Five elements form the foundation: our Purpose, our Mission, our Vision, our Leadership Principles and our Shared Values. It is on this foundation that we build our ista identity.

ista has made a clear commitment to sustainability. We lead the way in energy management and environmental protection - which is why we also link our financing to progress in this area. In 2020, we concluded a new ESG-linked (Environmental, Social and Governance) syndicated loan for up to 1.85 billion euros. With this kind of loan, the variable interest rates are also linked to the fulfilment of sustainability targets. In our case, they are based on the goals of our sustainability strategy.  If we achieve them, we can reduce the interest rates; on the other hand, the interest rates will rise if we miss the targets. The key sustainability figures are audited by SGS-TÜV Saar GmbH.  The term of the loan is five years, including a one to two-year extension option.