Frequently asked questions

Yes, RWE has been rising to the challenges of sustainable management for years. We already have a successful track record: For example, we have a system for recording, assessing and controlling the demands that society places on us. The organizational structures of sustainability management have become firmly cemented in our company, and maintaining dialogue with stakeholder groups is part of our daily business.

Environmental protection and societal issues are integral components of our target-setting system. This gives rise to a host of fields of activity, some of which have recently gained significant importance. Climate change, the rise in energy prices and the finite nature of resources are perceived as ever-larger challenges for utilities. In addition, topics concerning the industry as a whole such as demographic change are increasingly coming to the forefront. In the 2007 financial year, we took this as an opportunity to refine our sustainability strategy.

The outcome was the definition of ten fields of activity on which we intend to concentrate our work in the years ahead.

Detailed information is included in RWE’s sustainability report entitled “Our Responsibility. Report 2010,” which was published in April 2011.

"Our Responsibility. Report 2010" (PDF)

Yes, in April 2011 we have published the latest version of our corporate responsibility report. It is aimed at our employees, analysts and investors, customers and suppliers, policymakers, public administration and non-govermental organisations, as well as at the people in those regions in which we do business. It describes the most important social and environmental challenges facing our core business, the conflicts of interest to which these can give rise, and the strategy we have developed in response.

The auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers Aktiengesellschaft Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft issued an independent assurance report, authoritative in German language, relating to the corporate responsibility report 2010. See pages 61 to 63 of the report:

"Our Responsibility. Report 2010" (PDF)

Financial markets expect companies to adhere to ever-higher transparency standards. This also applies to activities in the field of sustainable management. We gladly fulfil their wishes by publishing a comprehensive sustainability report every two years that has been reviewed by our auditors. Supplementary and late-breaking information is available on the web at www.rwe.com/responsibility At presentations and in one-on-ones, we regularly conduct dialogue with investors who put together their portfolios using sustainability as a criterion. These investors are especially interested in learning how we manage risks arising in connection with our carbon dioxide emissions. We report on this issue within the scope of the Carbon Disclosure Project, which is supported by the world’s leading banks and investment institutions.

Further information can found in our presentation for sustainability investors:

SRI Company Presentation / RWE - A Sustainable Investment, August 2011 (pdf)

The efforts we undertake to ensure sustainable management are rewarded. Proof of this can be found in the fact that RWE was listed in the renowned Dow Jones Sustainability group of indices (DJSI) for yet another year in September 2010. Selections are made based on economic, ecologi-cal and social criteria. RWE is in the DJSI World and European DJSI STOXX. We are one of the few German companies to have been listed in this family of indices without interruption since its inception in 1999.