Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, the member states of the United Nations adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We want to make concrete contributions to achieving these goals along our entire value chain. Among other things, we set ourselves a new, ambitious climate target at the start of 2019: We want to turn the Deutsche Telekom network into a “green network” by 2021, and by 2030, reduce our CO2 emissions by 90 % (compared with 2017), and reduce emissions generated in the manufacture and use of our products by 25 % per customer (SDG 13). In the reporting year, we reached a first milestone: Since the start of 2020, our customers in Germany have been surfing on Deutsche Telekom’s green network. But as a shaper of digitalization, we also believe we have a responsibility to support people in successfully navigating the internet and living together in accordance with democratic rules. That is why we not only provide technical access and data privacy and security (SDG 9), but also promote media literacy (SDG 4). Our focus in 2020 was on the topic of civil courage online.
For further information, please refer to the section “Corporate responsibility and non-financial statement” in the combined management report.
Our contributions toward achieving the SDGs have also had a positive effect on our own Company. To enhance clarity, we divide these value contributions into the five subcategories – Finance, Structure, Relationships, Employees, and Environment.
Deutsche Telekom’s value contributions
As a responsible employer, we greatly value employee participation and a working environment that is fair and respectful; we encourage diversity and support our employees on their journey toward the digital working world. In this way, we contribute toward achieving SDGs 5 (Gender equality), 8 (Decent work and economic growth), and 10 (Reduced inequalities) – and this also has a positive impact on cooperation within our Company (Employees). By building out our broadband network, we are making an active contribution to creating high-quality infrastructure, promoting innovation (SDG 9), and strengthening our infrastructure (Structure). And by consistently improving energy efficiency as we expand our network and by sourcing 100 % of our electricity from renewable energies, we contribute towards SDG 13 and make our own business activities more environmentally friendly (Environment). Our growing range of sustainable products and solutions increases this effect and enables our customers to reduce CO2 emissions and conserve other resources (SDGs 12, 14, 15). At the same time, these offerings enable us to generate revenue (Finance). Our solutions for smart cities promote sustainable living (SDG 11) and we implement them using new partnerships (SDG 17) (Relationships).
To clearly highlight the contribution our products, services, and activities make towards the individual sustainability development goals and our value chain, we have marked the relevant passages of the following pages with the respective SDG and value contribution symbols.