Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
Under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Zeppelin Group is required to disclose sustainability information in the management report for the first time in the 2025 fiscal year. The company must report on all sustainability aspects that meet the criteria of double materiality. The European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) published in July 2023 outline the reporting obligation. On this basis, a double materiality analysis was started in the second half of the reporting year to identify material sustainability topics for Zeppelin in accordance with the CSRD. After an initial assessment of all ESRS topics by the central CSR department and the respective responsible specialist departments, interviews with selected stakeholders and a gap analysis will be carried out in the first quarter of 2024. The topics will then be prioritized by the central CSR department and the individual strategic business units based on the assessment criteria of scope, severity, irreversibility, and likelihood. The main reporting topics will be defined once the evaluations have been completed. Procedural and technical adjustment processes for the collection of non-financial indicators, data collection, integration into the annual report as well as communication and training measures are running in parallel.
Measurement of Scope 3 emissions
In the 2023 reporting year, the “Greenhouse” project was initiated in order to determine a reference point for the Zeppelin Group’s Scope 3 emissions for the first time. Scope 3 includes all emissions from activities that occur downstream or upstream of Zeppelin’s own business operations in the value chain, including 15 categories such as “purchased goods and services”, “transportation and distribution” or “use of sold products”. The baseline for the data was set at 2022. The most important Scope 3 categories for Zeppelin were determined by means of a hot spot analysis (see graphic). Both the level of emissions per category and Zeppelin’s opportunities to influence these emissions were assessed. As a result, eleven relevant categories were identified for Zeppelin. This includes the category “Use of sold products”, which generates the most CO2 emissions. Based on the preliminary calculation, the share of Scope 3 emissions in the Zeppelin Group’s total emissions is around 99 percent. In 2024, we will focus on optimizing the processes for future data collection.
EU Taxonomy and Project Impact
From the 2025 fiscal year, Zeppelin is obliged to report in accordance with the EU Taxonomy. The EU Taxonomy is a classification system for sustainable economic activities. The overarching objective is to promote sustainable investments to achieve the objectives of the EU Green Deal. In 2023, an interdisciplinary project team was set up to meet the requirements of the EU Taxonomy Regulation. The central components of the project are to identify Zeppelin’s taxonomy-eligible and taxonomy-aligned economic activities and to derive the associated KPIs (sales, operating and capital expenditure). In 2024, an implementation concept will be developed and the financial processes and systems adapted accordingly. This will ensure that the required data can be collected during operation or with minimal expense. At the same time, the “Project Impact” focuses on creating transparency of impact. The aim of the project is to present Zeppelin’s portfolio of sustainable products and services.
CSR Week
Conveying knowledge, promoting discussion and creating a deeper understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) – these are the goals of CSR week, which Zeppelin hosted from November 7 to 9, 2023. A campaign in the lead-up to CSR week sought to raise awareness of CSR issues. Employees worldwide followed the four events broadcast virtually in German and English. In addition to an inspiring keynote speech by science journalist Dirk Steffens, employees were given the opportunity to discuss with Group management, customers and partners in live interactive sessions. Issues focused on during the event were climate and environmental protection, transformation to sustainable business, employee satisfaction, employer attractiveness and sustainable products and services. The event was accompanied by CSR booths and talks by sustainable start-ups at Zeppelin headquarters in Garching, as well as the official launch of the CSR e-learning course. In addition, a CSR quiz was organized for employees, with the winners able to select a charitable organization to which Zeppelin then donated EUR 1,000.
