Our commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in September 2015. The 17 SDGs cover environmental, social and economic objectives of sustainable development. As such, the United Nations has agreed on a World Future Treaty that defines a common Agenda 2030. DB Group is expressly committed to the ten principles of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). For this reason, we also feel committed to the objectives of the Agenda 2030 and the SDGs.
Achieving the ambitious objectives for 2030 will require the commitment and cooperation of all stakeholders. We have reinforced the dialog with our stakeholders regarding the SDGs and will continue down this path. The Federal Government’s national sustainability strategy forms an important basis for this discussion, having been agreed at the beginning of 2017 on the basis of the SDGs and amongst those updated in June 2018 during the 19th legislative term of the German Parliament.
In 2016 we prioritized six SDGs in which our products, offers and sustainability management could make the greatest impact:
- SDG No. 3 (good health and well-being),
- SDG No. 8 (decent work and economic growth),
- SDG No. 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure),
- SDG No. 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and
- SDG No. 12 (responsible consumption and production) as well as
- SDG No. 13 (climate action).
In the year under review, various communication measures were implemented to promote DB Group’s engagement with the SDGs. For example, photography exhibitions such as the Canon Young People program were displayed in stations. Long-distance transport timetables were printed with individual SDGs in order to promote passenger awareness that making their journey by railway and taking advantage of other mobility offers such as CleverShuttle actively contribute to climate protection and smart mobility. An SDG photo competition on the theme of “We are creating sustainable cities” was held for our employees, in order to inform them of the 17 goals for sustainable development.