Strategy and Management 2009
Since 1998, RWE has developed a comprehensive environmental management system. The tried and tested structures in that system are now being applied to our developing CR management system as well. The Human Resources Director, Alwin Fitting, is the Board member responsible for corporate responsibility (CR) and environmental protection and the Corporate Responsibility/Environmental Protection unit reports directly to him. Operational responsibility is incumbent both on the Group companies and on the specialist units.
Control and reporting
The CR Coordination Committee supports the HR Director with the Group-wide coordination and implementation of CR and meets once a year for this purpose. The Board of RWE AG has decided that starting in 2010, reports on the progress of CR strategy implementation based on the key performance indicators will be published annually. For several years now, we have had an Environmental Reporting and Information System (ERIS) in place to monitor our environmental management system and to collect all the relevant data, which as in the past are the main focus of our reporting. For the other data, we have recourse to established systems such as our Group-wide accounting and the data collected by HR.
Audits and certification
One important tool used to keep our environmental management system at a consistently high level is the internal audit. Once a year, representatives of the Group Centre meet with the operating companies and systematically take stock of the environmental management system. In addition, our internal auditors review specific environmental management processes in both the operating companies and in the Group Centre. These annual internal audits have led to steady progress in the scope and effectiveness of the environmental management system throughout the RWE Group. While the restructuring of the Group and founding of new subsidiaries slowed the pace of implementation in 2009, the relevant responsibilities have been defined almost everywhere, meaning that the other components of our environmental management system will soon follow.
External certification, especially of our environmental and quality management systems, is sought wherever our operations and hence our customers are likely to benefit from it. Both Mátra in Hungary and two enviaM companies, for example, had their environmental management systems certified for the first time to the international standard ISO 14001 during the period under review.
Compliance
The cases of non-compliance with the RWE Code of Conduct reported to the compliance officer during the period under review were in the lower double-digit range. None of the cases that came to light were serious. Any fines, penalties and investigative proceedings for shortcomings in environmental protection, competition and antitrust law, product liability, information obligations and data protection are reported by the companies in the Group on an annual basis. With the exception of the antitrust proceedings against RWE Dea described in the chapter Marketplace, there were no serious cases of this nature during the period under review.
Sustainability ratings and rankings
oekom research awarded us a grade of C+ in its most recent rating, while the Sustainalytics rating agency – formerly Scoris – put RWE in eighth place in its most recent sustainability ranking of the companies in the DAX 30 in December 2009. Meanwhile, the French rating agency Vigeo rated us better than the industry average or at least just as good on most scores.RWE has been listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) since its inception in 1999; the same is true of DJSI STOXX, which was launched a year later. This rating is based on a detailed survey conducted by the SAM Group.
Our transparent reporting earned us a place in the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in 2009. RWE’s responses to the CDP questionnaire can be viewed on the Internet. In a ranking of the sustainability reports of Germany’s 150 largest corporations conducted by future e.V. and the Institut für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung (IÖW) in November 2009, our 2007 report was accorded fourth place and judged the best report in the industry.
Status: 04/2010
