Sustainability Approach

Our com­pany was foun­ded more than 100 years ago with the aim to re­duce the en­ergy waste in ships leav­ing from the port of Bre­men. This first guid­ing prin­ciple has in­flu­en­ced much of what we have ac­com­plished in the cen­tury since.

CRS meets Sustainability meets ESG

Sustainability means meeting our needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It means managing natural, economic and social resources responsibly and effectively to create additional value for our stakeholders and long-term resilience for our business. Every day at KAEFER, we help companies to prevent energy waste and become more efficient. Sustainability is at the heart of our strategy and our daily work – a way of thinking, acting and working, which helps us develop innovative solutions to global challenges and underpins our commitment to integrating environmental protection, social responsibility and good governance (ESG) throughout our value chain.

“ESG and sustainability belong together,” explains Francisca Gorgodian, Head of Corporate Sustainability & Communication at KAEFER. “We can speak of following a sustainable strategy when we comply with the set ESG directives, when we can demonstrate that we are focusing on environmental, social and governance issues. Sustainability is becoming our license to operate. ESG criteria are helping us to follow up on our sustainability goals.” At KAEFER, we promote sustainability

  • As an enabler – the services we provide enable our customers to substantially reduce their environmental footprint.
  • As a leader – we lead by example, following ESG standards in all our business activities. Our annual Sustainability Report benchmarks our performance as a company against multiple frameworks, including ESG, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the UN’s Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

As we evolve as a company, so our understanding of sustainability continues to evolve. In 2008, we created a dedicated Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability (CRS) department to set the sustainability framework for our company, support local management in its implementation, and make sure the environmental, social and community-based efforts of our employees around the world are integrated, properly resourced and effective. The CRS department continues to be central to our sustainability efforts. Working closely with a network of KAEFER Sustainability Champions, located in different departments and KAEFER business units around the world to organise and implement campaigns on issues related to sustainability. Beginning in 2021, KAEFER’s CRS department is also supported by a cross-departmental ESG Project Management Office.

NEW! The ESG Project Management Office (ESG PMO)

ESG stands for Environment, Social and Governance. In 2021, KAEFER decided to incorporate this language into our sustainability policies to make it easier for us to measure key performance indicators which aren’t captured by financial indicators.

While the CRS department aims to support our business in its effort to become even more sustainable and accountable, the ESG PMO follows a cross-departmental approach.

Erhard Dubs, Corporate Strategy Manager and member of the ESG Project Management Office, says, “although sustainability is not only about becoming greener, there is an increasing awareness of ambitious carbon footprint targets, for instance due to the European Green Deal. We need to understand how this will impact our business and consider the strategic action we need to take now to fulfil our clients’ and the societies’ future requirements.”

For Francisca Gorgodian, it all boils down to taking action. “We know that our behaviour has an impact on our environment and our society. So we need to adopt a strategy that takes all of the lessons we’ve learned about being sustainable, including all of the technology we’ve developed, and put it to use. Instead of just talking about it, we need to act consistently all over the KAEFER world and ensure that our actions and reports tackle all relevant ESG criteria in our organisation."

This new focus on ESG will make it easier for us to provide specific sustainability data to clients, banks, investors, shareholders, and the wider public. Combined with the continuing work of our CRS department, it will also help us identify opportunities and risks in a constantly changing environment.

Talis Zvidrins, Supplier Management Expert and member of the ESG Project Management Office, says "to maximise our sustainability impact, we assess our position in the different value chains we are part of and operate in. From this basis we already search for more environmentally efficient solutions. The next level is to develop approaches with our business partners, up and down the value chain, how to enable sustainable change."

ESG Steering Committee: Steers strategic agenda and guidance; Monitors initiatives portfolio.

ESG Project Management Office: Supports all project stakeholders in planning and execution.

Workstreams: Short-, medium- or long-term working groups composed of experts from different business units and corporate departments focusing on the development of specific and agreed ESG targets.

Sounding Board: Entity and headquarter representatives providing (expert) opinion on design and progress of project without having authority to issue directives.

Launching in 2022 – Measurable targets for a sustainable future

Currently in development, a global Group ESG policy, including a strategic ESG Roadmap and Vision, will support KAEFER’s mission to be the most reliable and efficient provider of technical industrial services. This updated approach complies with the demands of our stakeholders – internal and external. Specific KAEFER initiatives and systems in the areas of Environment, Social & Governance are addressed in more detail in the relevant sections of this report.

For Julia Kasparek, Global Sustainability Manager and member of the ESG Project Management Office, “it’s clear that our business will not only be affected by climate change, but also the social and governance challenges need to be considered. We work out in the open oceans, on the coast, far inland where it’s hot and dry. In all of these places and many more, weather and climate as well as working conditions and for instance the health & safety of our employees are fundamental and affect every aspect of what we do. It’s our duty to minimise the effects not just on the environments we work in, but on the environment as a whole.” ESG Project Management Office member Niels Gogler, Executive Assistant to Co-CEO Roland Gärber, adds: “It may well be a struggle to achieve our goals, but we simply cannot go on without challenging ourselves. We have to adopt an attitude of action and tackle sustainability head on.”

Engaged and informed – the KAEFER Sustainability Report and Stakeholder Survey

The more we can involve people at KAEFER, the more we can accelerate our progress on sustainability issues. It’s through engaging with all our stakeholders, that we ensure our actions are not only right, but also effective. Our most recent Sustainability Stakeholder Survey, conducted in February 2021, received a record number of responses. In total, 1,196 people from 33 countries took part – a 32% increase on the 2019 edition of the survey. The results show that more and more people at and outside of KAEFER are engaging with sustainability related topics, in particular the reduction of emissions and waste management. The topics covered in our Sustainability Report reflect the concerns of our stakeholders. In order to place our progress in context, content is aligned with our ESG approach and incorporates the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. Please see About this Report for further details.

“KAEFER’s core business is already helping to reduce energy waste and improving the carbon footprint of our clients. But we also need to do our homework and constantly work on our own sustainability. That’s where our effort to comply with ESG criteria (Environment, Social and Governance) is so important.”

Dr. Roland Gärber, KAEFER Co-CEO