Ambition, strategy and program
Sustainability is a driver of innovation for Continental during the current transformation of mobility and industries, and is thus firmly anchored in its corporate strategy in the cornerstone of “turning change into opportunity.” Sustainability is also a key component in our vision of “creating value for a better tomorrow.”
In the Continental Group’s sustainability ambition, we describe how we want to shape this transformation in the relevant topic areas with respect to sustainability in order to seize transformation opportunities and mitigate transformation risks. Along with the relevant guidelines, this sustainability ambition brings together existing strategies, programs and processes, as well as their further development. The specific ambitions, strategies, programs and processes are presented in the following sections for the reporting topic areas of the combined non-financial statement. The entire ambition can be found online at www.continental-sustainability.com.
Management, organization and responsibilities
Within the Executive Board, the Executive Board member for Group Human Relations (director of Labor Relations) and Group Sustainability is responsible for sustainability. Sustainability management within the Continental Group is regulated by a dedicated internal sustainability policy.
The Group Sustainability group function is further supplemented by sustainability functions in the group sectors as well as coordinators in several business areas and countries. The key sustainability functions were expanded and strengthened in 2022.
The Group Sustainability Steering Committee is responsible for assessing interdepartmental issues, weighing up risks and opportunities and discussing relevant Executive Board decisions in advance. In fiscal 2022, it consisted of the entire Executive Board as well as the heads of the sustainability functions at corporate level and group sector level as well as the heads of other relevant group functions. The committee is chaired by the Executive Board member for Group Human Relations (director of Labor Relations) and Group Sustainability and managed by the head of the Group Sustainability group function. Some of the group sectors have their own interdepartmental sustainability committees, which are coordinated by the relevant sustainability functions.
The sustainability performance indicators are consolidated in the Continental Group’s sustainability scorecard, which is approved annually by the Group Sustainability Steering Committee on behalf of the Executive Board. The scorecard is based on defined quality criteria for the indicators, is continuously developed further and establishes the formal basis for integrating sustainability into other corporate processes.
The topic of sustainability is also an integral part of the Continental Group’s strategy development. Significant investments must be reviewed and assessed as to their contribution to sustainability as a standard part of the approval process. For the Automotive, Tires and ContiTech group sectors, detailed roadmaps for the implementation of sustainability ambitions in the relevant topic areas are under development.
Remuneration
The Executive Board and managers are measured against the achievement of sustainability goals. Long-term remuneration components (long-term incentive – LTI) are thus linked to sustainability aspects. The LTI plans are updated on an annual basis. For more information, see the remuneration report on our website under Company/Executive Board.
Cultural change
In order to support cultural change in the organization, we stepped up internal communication with respect to sustainability in fiscal 2022, held numerous events and further integrated the topic into key internal event formats for managers. These events include the annual Global Sustainability Conference, which is attended by Continental employees from all over the world.
