Sustainability Organization and Management

The executive board bears overall responsibility for sustainability and all climate-related aspects at Evonik. Direct responsibility is assigned to the chief human resources officer. Responsibility for sustainability management is defined in a corporate policy. The supervisory board also regularly addressed sustainability issues in 2022.

In view of the increasing relevance of sustainability for the management of the Evonik Group, we integrated further ESG aspects into our governance framework in the reporting period. Since September 2022, our sustainability council has met at the executive board level, chaired by the chairman of the executive board. To strengthen the alignment with our businesses, alongside the executive board, members include the heads of the divisions.

The sustainability council is responsible for the management of sustainability-related aspects and the associated decisions. Following approval by the executive board, the measures are implemented by the operational units in close consultation with the relevant functions, for example, Strategy, Sustainability, Research, Development & Innovation, and Procurement. The decisions taken by the sustainability council are prepared by the sustainability circle, which comprises representatives of the functions and departments of relevance for sustainability. The sustainability circle is chaired by the chief human resources officer, who is the executive board member responsible for sustainability.

Moreover, starting in 2023, further sustainability aspects will be integrated into the long-term remuneration of the executive board and senior executives.