- "We take responsibility" is the motto behind Deutsche Telekom's CR
- Second CR-Day - an opportunity to take stock
- Live on the Internet
With responsible corporate governance and a sustainable corporate culture now more important than ever, Deutsche Telekom is using its second international Corporate Responsibility Day this coming Tuesday, 23 November as an opportunity to take stock of its progress so far. As such, companies like Deutsche Telekom assume a whole new degree of social responsibility. CR is therefore now embedded in the Group strategy and René Obermann, Chairman of the Board of Management, has declared CR a top-level priority and organized the Group-wide CR strategy into a framework for all CR activities of the international subsidiaries.
This spring Deutsche Telekom set out its vision of CR: "Deutsche Telekom is a driving force internationally for sustainable conduct, it sets the standard for connected life and work, it sets an example in the integration of people in the information society, and it is a leader on the way to an environmentally-friendly society."
Since the first CR-Day in July 2009 Deutsche Telekom has implemented a variety of projects, aims and milestones, a few examples of which are given below and focus on the following five target groups:
Society: Through the "Yes, I can!" initiative, launched in 2009, Deutsche Telekom is campaigning for greater equality of opportunities for children and young people in Germany. The initiative funds projects and facilities which bolster the individual abilities of young people from difficult economic and social backgrounds. To date around 1,500 facilities with projects have applied for funding. Over 130 individual projects have since been offered support. Every year Deutsche Telekom provides funding of over 500,000 euros, with selected support projects awarded funds of up to 15,000 euros. It also promotes media expertise in schools across Europe and is the co-founder of the TeachToday initiative. The aim is to promote the media expertise of teachers as well as young people. In addition to Europe-wide competitions for improved safety in the use of electronic media (eSafety), the media education portal www.teachtoday.de supports teachers by providing teaching materials and practical examples of the opportunities and risks associated with using the Internet and cell phones.
Own employees: The aim is to ensure that women make up at least 30 percent of middle and upper management by the end of 2015. What's more, Deutsche Telekom has also set itself the goal of systematically promoting talented female employees and also increasing the share of women among the company's top junior staff. Other changes include the considerable expansion of the company's own services for caring for children and elderly people, flexible working hours and job-sharing models for executives, as well as a guideline which ensures weekends and holiday periods remain "e-mail free." Engagement@Telekom is the name of the corporate volunteering program, through which the company supports employees in their social commitments, for example with funding. Another avenue is to offer employees incentives to engage in new areas of social responsibility by introducing cooperative schemes, initiatives and projects within the company like "Die Tafel," "Lebenshilfe" or the "Nummer gegen Kummer" youth counseling line.
Suppliers: Deutsche Telekom exercises its corporate responsibility along the entire value chain. As an international ICT service provider, Deutsche Telekom is represented in more than 50 countries and fosters corresponding supplier relationships. This means that the Group also buys goods and services in developing and emerging countries. However, production conditions in these countries often do not comply with Telekom's environmental and social requirements. In terms of its suppliers, Deutsche Telekom is committed therefore to promoting and safeguarding relevant standards and ensuring human rights are observed. Moreover, Telekom participates in industry initiatives to foster sustainable supplier relationships. For example, Deutsche Telekom recently signed an agreement with France Telecom and Telecom Italia to audit their joint suppliers worldwide according to standard criteria, in order to establish and safeguard social, ethical and environmental standards with regard to their suppliers.
Environment and climate: By the end of 2015, CO2 emissions from new automobiles are supposed to fall to an average of 110 grams/km. That corresponds to an average consumption of 4.2 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers. This defined objective thus is well below the target figure for climate protection objectives of the European Union, which is aiming for 120 grams/km by 2015. What's more, Deutsche Telekom has concluded a comprehensive partnership agreement with Deutsche Bahn. Effective immediately, all Deutsche Telekom employees on business trips will travel CO2-free with Deutsche Bahn: based on the annual total travel of Deutsche Telekom staff, more than 128 million kilometers, Deutsche Bahn will feed the same amount of electricity from renewable sources - i.e., hydroelectric, wind and solar power - directly into its network. This partnership alone will allow Deutsche Telekom to play its part in avoiding no less than 5,700 tons of CO2 in the future.
Customers: HotSpot in the ICE (Inter City Express). Environmentally-friendly travel and a slow-down in climate change, without having to give up the Internet or cell phones. Whether at work or play. The benefits of a train journey are not just the environmentally-friendly aspect, but the WLAN network in the train, which provides travelers with access to the Internet for working or surfing on the move. Online billing instead of paper bills save - at three pages each month with a million customers alone - a mountain of paper 240 m high, the same height as the television tower in Düsseldorf. Deutsche Telekom is focusing on active climate protection in its sustainable use of resources. Which also applies to its Gamesload, Musicload, Softwareload and Videoload download portals. By downloading and thus avoiding packaging material and physical supply chains, these portals generate 80 percent less CO2 emissions compared to the stationary retail trade. Over 6.8 million customers in our Load family are actively contributing to climate protection in this way.
You can view a live stream of the CR-Day at Deutsche Telekom AG on 23 November 2010 from 10 a.m. at: www.utopia.de/crd2010
About Deutsche Telekom AG Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies with over 129 million mobile customers, around 37 million fixed-network lines and approximately 16 million broadband lines (as of September 30, 2010). The Group provides fixed-network, mobile communications, Internet and IPTV products and services for consumers, and ICT solutions for business and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in around 50 countries and has over 250,000 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenues of EUR 64.6 billion in the 2009 financial year - more than half of it outside Germany (as of December 31, 2009).