2018 Integrated Report – On track towards a better Railway

Sustainability management

Materiality through focusing

We are working on issues that are material to us and our stakeholders. The 2016 Stakeholder Survey allowed us to identify key sustainability topics and to continuously pursue them further in the year under review. The impacts of the topics both within and outside DB Group are analyzed.

The central ambitions of our stakeholders are focused on ensuring DB Group is fit for the future and securing its performance capabilities, as well as addressing topics relating to security and the environment. Thus, the measures implemented as part of the Group programs on the one hand and the competence center Digitalization and the change management division on the other hand included the material topics of digitalization, innovation and performance capability. Our Group programs and the Agenda for a Better Railway also take up these material topics. The material topic security was addressed through increased activities in the areas of employee security and cybersecurity. The fact that the fourth employee survey took place in the year under review underlines the importance that we place on employee satisfaction.

We respond to the issue of climate protection, which is classified as a material topic, in our climate targets.

DB Group’s target system forms the basis for the selection of the key figures relevant to management. Further topics are reported based on an internal assessment of their significance. This includes the topics of social commitments and supply chains, which are given as high a priority as climate protection in our sustainability portfolio. Furthermore, the topics of air quality control  and nature conservation were reported on.

In a detailed table, we summarized our 2018 key sustainability topics for you.