Sustainability

We live sustainability: our code of conduct for sustainable business

As a leading company for the energy transition, we mainly work on shaping a sustainable energy future. In doing so, we want to adopt a pioneering role by ensuring that sustainability goes hand in hand with behaving responsibly towards society, the environment and the economy.

The code of conduct for sustainable business describes our social, ecological and economic responsibility, which we also expect of our business partners and suppliers. It is a guide and aid to meeting our statutory, contractual, ethical and voluntary requirements to the highest degree possible. The code of conduct applies to all company activities and supports our management staff and employees in their decisions and actions in everyday business life. 

The code covers five areas: corporate governance with integrity, protecting the climate and environment, working method, economic responsibility, and social engagement. It is up to us to put in maximum effort every day to the best of our ability. Together, we’re leading VERBUND to a sustainable future.

Our contribution to the global sustainability targets
There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of Agenda 2030. We focus our commitment on all those SDGs that can be significantly influenced by our corporate activity. In particular, we see SDG 7 “Affordable and clean energy” as a core mandate in terms of our corporate vision “Giving energy to the future with clean electricity and innovative solutions”.

We present our specific contributions to the SDGs in the brochure “Energy with Responsibility” (German only).

VERBUND is a signatory to the UN Global Compact (German only) and supports the ten principles of the UN Global Compact in the areas of human rights, labour standards, environmental protection, and fighting corruption. We are committed to integrating the Global Compact and its principles into the corporate strategy, the corporate culture and daily business.

Certification to ONR 192500 – CSR management system
In order to systemically embed the notion of sustainability at VERBUND, a CSR management system was implemented in accordance with the requirements of ONR 192500 (German only) (“Social Responsibility of Organisations”) and certified by Quality Austria. ONR 192500 implements the guidance of ISO 26000 for the awareness of social responsibility.

Annual reporting
We publish the results of our sustainability measures in annual reports in accordance with the GRI principles. From 2002 to 2014 in the form of the VERBUND Sustainability Report, since 2015 in the Integrated VERBUND Financial Report. This report is also our progress report on the UN Global Compact (Communication on Progress).

You can find all published reports on the Reports page.

VERBUND in sustainability indices and ratings

The current corporate rating by ISS ESG (German only) awarded VERBUND an overall score of B+ and confirmed the recommendation of Prime Investment for investors with a claim to sustainability. The comprehensive reporting of environmental KPIs was highlighted as being especially positive. This rating puts VERBUND in the top three out of a total of 128 companies in the sector.

In the CSR rating of the supplier assessment platform EcoVadis, VERBUND has achieved PLATINUM status and ranks in the top 1% of more than 90,000 evaluated companies.

SUSTAINALYTICS places VERBUND in the top segment of around 500 evaluated companies in the energy sector and confirms a high standard of performance in the management of sustainability risks. 

VERBUND is member of the following sustainability indices:

• VÖNIX (German only) (VBV-Austrian Sustainability Index)
• Ethibel Sustainability Index (ESI) Excellence Europe
• FTSE4Good Index Series