Basis for preparation of the sustainability statement (BP-1)

With this sustainability statement, DB Group begins voluntary reporting based on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which is not part of the audited consolidated financial statements. Our reporting with reference to the ESRS is based on ESRS Set 1 dated December 22, 2023 and, in some cases, already on the proposed adjustments as part of the technical advice of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) on the draft of the simplified ESRS dated December 3, 2025:

• Preparation of the sustainability statement on the basis of ESRS Set 1.
• Application of the ESRS draft of December 3, 2025 for all disclosure requirements in ESRS 2 (the Minimum Disclosure Requirements or General Disclosure Requirements are reported in the topic standards depending on the ESRS basis of the chapter), the new disclosure requirements E1-2 (Identification of climate-related risks and scenario analysis) and E1-3 (Resilience in relation to climate change), the disclosure requirements for the topic of health and safety in S1 and all disclosure requirements for DB-specific topics. In the case of disclosure requirements prepared on the basis of ESRS Set 1, some datapoints were not reported that have been removed according to the ESRS draft of December 3, 2025.
• Absent (or incomplete) reporting of individual datapoints.

An illustration of these use cases can be found in the ESRS Index. ESRS reporting for the 2025 financial year is, therefore, not based on a uniform ESRS basis, is not complete within the meaning of ESRS and has not been audited by an auditing firm.

This sustainability statement was prepared on a consolidated basis. The scope of consolidation generally corresponds to the financial reporting. Individual metrics have not yet been collected with Group-wide coverage.

The sustainability statement covers our own operations, as well as the upstream and downstream value chain on the basis of our double materiality assessment. It does not include the former DB Schenker business unit, which was sold as of April 30, 2025.

In 2025, interns and working students were removed from the definition of the number of employees and have since been counted as young talent. The reason for this was the predominantly educational nature of these groups. The figures for previous years or ends of previous years have not been adjusted. Where use has been made of other reliefs, options or other specific provisions described in ESRS 1, this is indicated at the relevant points in the topic chapters.

Information on events that occurred after the end of the reporting period can be found in the combined management report in the chapter Events after the balance sheet date.