Sustainability Report 2017 Print Excerpt of the Online Sustainability Report Our responsibility as a media company Axel Springer SE Print Excerpt of the Online Sustainability Report 2017 Source: http://nachhaltigkeit.axelspringer.de Responsibility for the content Florian Nehm Head of Corporate Sustainability & EU Affairs Axel Springer SE Axel Springer Str. 65 10888 Berlin Tel: +49 30 2591 793 70 [email protected] At the same time also the summonable address for all the responsible parties and authorized persons mentioned in the imprint Executive Board: • Dr. Mathias Döpfner, (CEO) • Jan Bayer • Dr. Stephanie Caspar • Dr. Julian Deutz • Dr. Andreas Wiele District Court/Commercial Register Registered Office in Berlin, District Court Charlottenburg HRB 154517 B VAT No. DE 136 627 286 2 Axel Springer SE, Print Excerpt of the Online Sustainability Report 2017, Source: http://nachhaltigkeit.axelspringer.de Our responsibility as a media company Contents Foreword from the Chairman and CEO 6 Principles and sustainability-related objectives 8 Our Corporate Principles 9 What we want 10 Corporate Values 13 Principles of Leadership 14 Independence of Journalism 16 International Social Policy 18 Environmental Guidelines 20 Governance, Risk & Compliance 21 Code of Conduct 24 Social Media Tips 25 Stakeholder-Interaction 26 Customer Loyalty 30 Stakeholder-Dialog Greenpeace 31 MOVING THE WORLD. Taking responsibility 32 Securing habitat for Canadian caribou 33 Innovation through conflict 34 How a resource conflict can be resolved. 42 Topics and Objectives 43 Insights and Perspectives 45 Objectives 2018/2019 46 Achievements 2016/2017 50 Developments 1979-2017 57 Awards 2004-2017 66 Our Responsibility as a Media Company 73 Journalistic independence 74 Independence of Journalism 76 European Charta of Freedom of the Press 78 Hamburg Decleration 80 Schools of Journalism Quality Charter 82 Product responsibility through verification of the facts 83 Data Protection 84 Defense against cyber threats 85 Youth Media Protection 87 Promotion of Young Journalists 89 The Axel Springer Prize for Young Journalists 91 Peter Boenisch Fellowship 92 “sachor jetzt!” - The Holocaust Snapchat Project 93 Podcast project “ALYOM 94 Promotion of Hamburg Media School 95 Promotion of media literacy 96 Jugendmedientage (Youth Media Days) 97 Boys and girls future day 98 Junior Lab 2017 99 Prize winning Journalism 100 3 Axel Springer SE, Print Excerpt of the Online Sustainability Report 2017, Source: http://nachhaltigkeit.axelspringer.de Our responsibility as a media company Commitment to the Interest of Media 102 Approach to History: Medienarchiv‘68 103 Employees 104 Career Opportunities 105 Axel Springer Akademie 107 Benefits for Employees 109 Development Programs 111 Health Management 112 Equality of Opportunity 113 move – Dialog. Wissen. Machen. 114 Agile Methodology 116 TUESDAY TOWNHALL TALK 117 Office View StepStone 118 Social Commitment 119 Commitment of our Media 120 Welt: Multimedia water project 121 BILD documentary “KZ - The System of the Murder 122 Blikk: Support for children 123 GLAMOUR: Clothes swaping campaign 124 Commitment of our Readers 125 Corporate Responsibility at RAS Slovakia 126 B.Z. Berlin Heroes 127 Commitment of our Employees 128 Immowelt godchildren 129 Kick that ball! The Axel Springer Foosball 130 Warming donations 131 300 pink balloons against terrorism 132 Social Day 122 Small change 134 Commitment of the Company 135 The new Axel Springer building 136 Ernst Cramer & Teddy Kollek Fellowship 138 Support for the American Academy Berlin 139 Axel Springer Award 2017 140 Axel Springer Children‘s Festival 141 Commitment at Ringier Axel Springer AG 142 engagement with awin 143 idealo founds “sozialo e.V.” 144 Sustainability at SeLonger 146 “Holidays with heart” 147 Environment 148 Energy and CO2 149 Energy Figures 152 CO2 process description 153 CO2 from energy use 155 Energy Audit 2017 158 Own printing facilities in Germany 160 4 Axel Springer SE, Print Excerpt of the Online Sustainability Report 2017, Source: http://nachhaltigkeit.axelspringer.de Our responsibility as a media company Value Chain 162 Services of external data centers 163 Origin of Printing Papers 166 Paper Recycling 168 Paper Suppliers 170 Logging 172 Paper Delivery 175 International Social Policy 176 PACE Paparazzi Catering & Event GmbH 179 Economy 181 The Axel Springer Share 182 Corporate Governance 183 Business Development 2017 184 Sustainability reports in the “GRI” format 186 What is a Sustainability Report? 187 General Disclosures 189 1 Organizational Profile 189 2 Strategy and Analysis 192 3 Ethics and Integrity 194 4 Governance 195 5 Stakeholder Engagement 198 6 Report Parameters 199 Topic-specific Disclosures Economic 204 Topic-specific Disclosure Environmental 209 Topic-specific Disclosures Social 218 PwC Auditors Certificate 238 Appendix 241 About Axel Springer 242 Glossary 244 Legal information 246 Contakt 247 Tables 248 Certificates and documents 251 5 Axel Springer SE, Print Excerpt of the Online Sustainability Report 2017, Source: http://nachhaltigkeit.axelspringer.de Our responsibility as a media company Foreword from the Chairman and CEO Mathias Döpfner, Chairman and Chief Executive Offi cer, Axel Springer SE. Dear Readers, We are living in a time of rapid changes and diminishing certainties. This makes it all the more impor- tant to shape the future and not lose sight of the values that guide us, but rather to make them the yardstick for our actions. Axel Springer SE is transforming itself at an ever faster pace from what used to be a newspaper and magazine publisher with exclusively printed media into an international media company in the digital age. Today, we already generate 70 percent of our revenues through digital activities. The digital share of adjusted EBITDA now amounts to 80 percent. Our goal is to become the world’s leading digital publisher. For this development to succeed, we need employees who can help shape the future of the company with their ideas and their passion. The more diverse the personalities and the cultural back- grounds, the better. One thing, however, unites us all: Responsibility for the future of our planet and its resources as well as social responsibility as a publishing house and media company for freedom and democracy. It is freedom that forms the core of our company. This was already a value at the heart of the thoughts and actions of our founder Axel Springer as he repeatedly called for the unity of Germany and built his publishing house in Berlin directly on the inner-German border. Today we are building - not a stone’s throw away - our new building, on the opposite side of the street and thus in the former eastern part of the city. This, too, is a connection, a bridge that overcomes history and symbolizes freedom. Freedom is also self-determination. The freedom to make decisions, to have a choice, to obtain relevant and credible information in order to be able to choose between media offerings. Today, our offerings are not limited to professional journalism – printed and increasingly digital. Axel Springer now also has a large number of online services that used to be traditional classifi ed advertising. Whether Stepstone, the leading job exchange or Immonet as a successful provider in the real estate market, all of these offerings give you the freedom to inform yourself, form an opinion and make important life decisions. But this freedom is also under threat. All over the world journalists and reporters are prevented from doing their work. They are harassed, arrested and indeed deliberately murdered, even in Europe. 6 Axel Springer SE, Print Excerpt of the Online Sustainability Report 2017, Source: http://nachhaltigkeit.axelspringer.de Our responsibility as a media company Our Nato partner Turkey has more professional journalists in prison than any other country in the world; Egypt is the only country with as many. In spite of all the joy about the release of our reporter Deniz Yücel: In Turkey, the freedom of the press has largely been successfully abolished. As a society, we too must work time and again to ensure that we do not lose our values and our de- mocratic and constitutional order. Freedom of opinion and freedom of the press are indispensable as essential pillars of liberal social systems. In this sense, the protection of journalists and reporters in this country contributes just as much to the sustainable development of our society as does their work as truth seekers itself. However, it is not only freedom that is threatened; our planet and its unique ecosystem also need pro- tection. And we can all contribute to this. Axel Springer is currently investigating the short-term use of plastics in order to reduce this as much as possible and avoid plastic waste. We ensure that our was- te disposal complies with the latest recycling standards and we are working on controlling procedures that make our use of electrical energy transparent at all our locations worldwide in order to identify our carbon footprint and optimize it with the aid of indicators. In a world of change and technological transformation, the need for information is great. But there are also uncertainties and a lot of questions. That is why the personal exchange of views with our emplo- yees is very important to me. Since October 2017, we have regularly invited all our colleagues world- wide to the “Tuesday Townhall Talk”. Several times a year, the focus is on an exchange of ideas and an open dialog with the Executive Board, either in person at the Berlin publishing house and world- wide via livestream at the workplace or on the go on smartphones. We live in a networked working environment and also want to foster the open dialog globally. This is because today we are a group of companies with around 16,000 employees, a good half of which already work outside Germany. The best talents should be enthusiastic about Axel Springer, regardless of cultural background, origin or gender. To nurture this enthusiasm, we need an open and respectful corporate culture.