German Sustainability Code
The German Sustainability Code ( DNK ) is a cross-sector transparency standard for reporting corporate sustainability performance and can be used by companies and organizations of all sizes and legal forms. It was developed in 2011 by the German Council for Sustainable Development in a stakeholder process and has since been revised several times. In its last revision (as of August 2017), the legal requirements of the CSR Directive Implementation Act were integrated.
General
The German Sustainability Code (DNK) provides a framework for reporting non-financial services that can be used internationally by organizations and companies of all sizes and legal forms. It was decided on October 13, 2011 by the German Council for Sustainable Development following a stakeholder process . The DNK makes corporate sustainability achievements visible and better comparable through standardization . It thus broadens the basis for assessing sustainability and describes minimum requirements for reporting companies and organizations. In order to meet the GSC, users create a declaration of conformity for 20 GSC criteria on strategy, process management , environmental issues, employee issues and society as well as corporate governance . In addition, they report or explain selected performance indicators of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (EFFAS). The 28 GRI or 16 EFFAS performance indicators are either reported (comply) or the deviation is explained (explain). This is possible, for example, if data has not yet been collected or the information required is not essential for the business case. In addition, industry-specific supplements or orientation aids and guidelines for savings banks, the Federal Association of German Banks , Housing , Food , Waste Management and City Cleaning as well as a university-specific DNK are available. As a result, users describe the core of corporate sustainability in their specific business case. In addition, they receive new impulses for the integration of sustainability into the core business and thus gain a competitive advantage in the long term . The companies' declarations of conformity are published in a database on the DNK website.
history
The Council for Sustainable Development initiated the German Sustainability Code after discussions with politicians, investors and analysts from the financial world, companies and civil society organizations. After extensive preparatory work at expert level, the Sustainability Council presented a first draft on November 29, 2010 and invited the public and all companies to a dialogue about it. By the end of the dialogue phase on February 25, 2011, the Council had received almost eighty statements and contributions to the discussion. These contributions, a qualification workshop with companies on May 9, 2011 and the experience of a practical test from June to August 2011 formed the basis for the further development of the design. At the multi-stakeholder forum on September 26, 2011 in Frankfurt am Main, questions about the scope of the code and its implementation were discussed in public. The results were incorporated into the decision-making meeting of the Sustainability Council on October 13, 2011. The German Council for Sustainable Development has now presented the German Sustainability Code of October 13, 2011 in a fourth updated version from July 2017. Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the German Sustainability Code in her speech at the annual conference of the Council for Sustainable Development on June 25, 2012. It is a good guide for sustainable business . In the foreword of the DNK Angela Merkel " invites every company to apply the German Sustainability Code and to make better use of the opportunity to do business sustainably." The current version of the DNK is legally compliant with the requirements of the CSR Directive Implementation Act, which the European Directive for Implemented corporate non-financial reporting (2014/95 / EU) into national law. Companies can thus use the DNK to draw up a non-financial declaration.
application
Companies often set up or integrate a sustainability team first. The project group then determines at which points information may be missing and who in the company could provide it and then collects all quantitative and qualitative information for the respective criteria. The company creates a company profile in the database through which the information can be entered. Then the declaration of conformity is checked for formal completeness by the DNK team. If reports are made on all criteria according to the “comply or explain principle”, the DNK team or, if requested, the company itself, publishes the declaration of conformity. Otherwise, the company will receive feedback on the information that has yet to be supplemented before the declaration is activated. The DNK declarations of conformity are available to all interested parties in a free database. The implementation was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of a project by the Sustainable Business Institute (SBI) in the first few years .
Fulfillment of the CSR reporting obligation
As of the 2017 financial year, numerous larger companies in Germany and the EU will have to provide data on environmental, social and employee issues, on respect for human rights and the fight against corruption . It requires the EU Directive 2014/95 / EU of October 22, 2014 on the disclosure of non-financial and diversity information . According to the Hans Böckler Foundation, around 540 large companies in Germany are affected by the reporting obligation. Large, non-listed companies are spared. In addition, medium-sized companies (SMEs) in particular will be indirectly affected. An external legal opinion confirmed that with the GSC, users are already fulfilling all aspects of the EU reporting obligation on extra financial information adopted in 2014.
DNK for SMEs
The DNK is particularly suitable for SMEs as it is easy to use. In cooperation with the Bertelsmann Foundation, the German Council for Sustainable Development has drawn up guidelines for SMEs that lead step by step to the declaration of compliance. According to the guidelines, sustainability is part of everyday business for many medium-sized companies. However, the services are often not documented - this is exactly where the declaration of conformity should start and offer the SMEs a means of documentation to the public.
Overview of the DNK criteria and performance indicators
The performance indicators of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the umbrella organization of the national associations of European financial analysts (European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies, EFFAS) listed below support DNK reporting. The companies can freely decide which set of indicators they report (GRI G4 / SRS or EFFAS). This decision is to be retained for the entire code.
DNK criteria | Performance indicators |
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strategy | |
1. Strategic analysis and measures
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Process management | |
5. Responsibility
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8. Incentive systems |
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9. Involvement of stakeholders |
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10. Innovation and product management |
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environment | |
11. Use of natural resources
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13. Climate-relevant emissions |
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society | |
14. Employee rights
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17. Human rights |
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18. Community |
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19. Political influence |
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20. Conduct in accordance with the law and guidelines |
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Use
The standard provides analysts and other stakeholders with information in order to be able to evaluate sustainability performance. The main target group of the instrument is the capital market . The benefit of the DNK lies in its condensed and user-friendly form: It provides companies of all sizes with a framework for reporting on their own sustainability management. The clear structure and the focus on the essential criteria are central advantages of the DNK. They promote the comparability of the information. It is particularly useful for all companies and organizations without an established reporting system . In order to achieve higher credibility, companies are free to have the information checked by third parties.
Training concept
The Council for Sustainable Development has developed a training concept for the application of the DNK, which paves the way for reporting in particular for small and medium-sized companies. The concept includes the free use of a toolbox, the placement of DNK training partners and support in planning events on the topic of CSR and sustainability reporting . Trainers from DNK partner organizations are available for training on the DNK. The DNK training partners have completed training on the DNK themselves and submitted a declaration of compliance and are now offering training across Germany. If available, contact is made with a mentor company in the vicinity that is already a tried and tested GSC user and can report on practical experience.
Web links
- The German Sustainability Code
- The Sustainability Code
- Greek Sustainability Code
- Website of the Council for Sustainable Development
- DNK database
- DNK training partner
- Sector-specific supplements for savings banks
- Orientation guide of the Federal Association of German Banks
- Guide to the Housing Industry
- Guide to the food industry
- Guide to waste management and city cleaning
- University-specific DNK
Individual evidence
- ↑ The German Sustainability Code: History , accessed on March 29, 2018.
- ↑ New Action: Downloads - Application - The German Sustainability Code. Retrieved March 29, 2018 .
- ↑ New Action: News - Current Issues - The German Sustainability Code. Retrieved March 29, 2018 .
- ↑ Speech by Chancellor Angela Merkel at the 12th Annual Conference of the Council for Sustainable Development , June 25, 2012.
- ↑ Council for Sustainable Development: The German Sustainability Code - the benchmark for sustainable business . Ed .: Council for Sustainable Development. 4th updated version 2017 edition. July 2017, p. 5 .
- ↑ Federal Law Gazette . Retrieved March 29, 2018 .
- ↑ Directive 2014/95 / EU (PDF) of October 22, 2014 on the disclosure of non-financial and diversity information
- ↑ Norbert Kluge and Sebastian Sick: Secret economy with transparency for social engagement? To the group of companies potentially affected by the CSR Directive Implementation Act . Ed .: Hans Böckler Foundation. MBF report 27/2016 edition. Düsseldorf November 2016.
- ↑ Andreas Hecker: Study on the implementation of the “CSR Directive” in Germany taking into account the “German Sustainability Code” initiative , May 21, 2015
- ↑ Bertelsmann Stiftung, German Council for Sustainable Development: Guide to the German Sustainability Code
- ↑ The German Sustainability Code: Training Concept , accessed on September 2, 2015.