Minimizing our own corporate footprint

As a signatory to the Paris Pledge for Action, Deutsche Bank is committed to playing its part in achieving the targets set by the Paris Agreement. Therefore, it is our responsibility as a corporate citizen to minimize the environmental impact of our business operations.

We have been doing this – among other things – by reducing our carbon footprint, using energy and other resources as efficiently as possible, buying renewable power and offsetting the remaining emissions. We are also striving to use water and paper responsibly, to minimize the supply chain impact of our business operations and to reduce the amount of waste we generate.

Offsetting residual CO2 emissions

One of Deutsche Bank’s most important environmental commitments is to reduce and compensate CO2e emissions for own operations and business travel. This is achieved by consuming less energy, traveling less, and purchasing more renewable electricity, and then finally by offsetting Deutsche Bank’s residual Scope 1 and 2 emissions as well as those associated with the Group’s business travel.

We offset the residual emissions by purchasing and retiring high-quality Verified Emission Reduction (VER) certificates. The certificates purchased fund investments in a diversified portfolio of projects that promote climate protection and economic development in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. All projects comply with recognized global standards, including the Gold Standard and the Verified Carbon Standard or VERRA.

In our Non-Financial Report, we disclose our eco-efficiency measures annually.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion are the foundations on which the bank’s values are built and are pre-requisites for its Global Hausbank ambitions. The bank wants all its employees to feel a sense of belonging by creating an inclusive work environment where everyone feels welcomed, respected, listened to, treated fairly and can contribute and grow. As diversity and inclusion are central to the bank’s culture, we seek to:

• Build talented and diverse teams to drive business results;
• Create a respectful and inclusive environment where people can thrive;
• Strengthen our relationship with clients, partners, regulators, communities, and potential employees.

We aim to attract, develop and retain talented employees from all cultures, countries, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, disabilities, beliefs, backgrounds, and experiences. To this end, and to prepare for opportunities and challenges arising from changing demographics and digitalization, we follow an integrated and multi-dimensional approach to diversity and inclusion.

LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex) inclusion is also an important diversity priority. The bank is an acknowledged industry leader for taking a strong stance on worldwide LGBTQI rights and is one of 15 founding members of the Accelerating LGBTQI+ Inclusion Globally initiative.The bank’s long-standing Ally program is one of the ways it supports LGBTQI people. Allies are individuals who do not necessarily self-identify as members of the LGBTQI community but who are willing to be visible champions of LGBTQI employees and their loved ones.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Deutsche Bank’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) mission is to enable economies and communities to prosper, creating a positive impact for people and society at large. Our CSR strategy focuses on education, enterprise, community development and environment, and targets the most pressing local concerns in each region.

In 2022, the global CSR strategy was aligned more closely with the bank’s ESG agenda by launching the How We Live programme for environmental impact. How We Live helps protect and restore nature and, through education, aims to build a deeper understanding and motivate the next generation to not only care for the natural world, but to lead the way in building a more climate-friendly society. In 24 countries, the Deutsche Bank supports over 50 projects focused on oceans and coastlines, rivers and wetlands, forests, farmland and urban green spaces. In 2022, more than 2,800 employees were engaged in How We Live projects. For example, they volunteered in reforestation projects and planted over 108,000 trees in 2022 alone. On top of that, over 26,000 people and 64 schools were reached through environmental awareness initiatives or training.