Management

The KION Group and its operating units are also in regular contact with various stakeholder groups, including industry associations in which the KION Group is actively involved on sustainability issues.

The KION Group is a partner in the Blue Competence sustainability initiative. Blue Competence is an initiative of the VDMA German Engineering Federation, set up to promote sustainability in the industry, but also to share sustainable solutions in mechanical and plant engineering. As a partner of the initiative, the KION Group has committed to adhering to its twelve guidelines for sustainable action.

You can find out more about the twelve sustainability guidelines at

CDP

CDP is a global environmental non-profit organization. Since 2002, investors have been collectively demanding through CDP more and better corporate environmental reporting. Today, over 515 investors with assets of US$ 106 trillion signed CDP’s disclosure request to better understand a company's environmental KPIs, strategies and management practices.

By reporting via CDP, the KION Group makes details of its climate protection strategies and activities public. In 2020, the KION Group improved its score and received an A- rating.

DAX® 50 ESG

The DAX® 50 ESG tracks the performance of the 50 largest, most liquid German market stocks that have comparably good performance based on Environmental, Social and Governance criteria. Further, the stocks must have passed standardized ESG screens related to Global Standards Screening, as well as the involvement in controversial weapons, tobacco production, thermal coal, nuclear power and military contracting.

FTSE4Good Index Series

FTSE Russell (the trade name of FTSE International Limited and Frank Russell Company) confirms that KION GROUP AG has been independently evaluated in keeping with FTSE4Good criteria and meets the requirements for inclusion in the FTSE4Good index series.

The FTSE4Good Index Series, developed by the global index company FTSE Group, is designed to measure the performance of companies with strong ESG (environment, social, governance) practices. The FTSE4Good indices are used by a wide variety of market participants to create and evaluate responsible funds and other products.

Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) is one of the world's largest service providers for responsible investing. ISS ESG, the research and rating unit for ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance), frequently analyses the most important stock and bond issuers.

In the 2020 rating, ISS ESG assigned a B- to the KION Group’s environmental, social and governance performance, elevating the KION Group again to prime status and including it in the top 20 percent of companies rated in the machinery sector.

S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA)

The annual S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment evaluates the sustainability practices of more than 4,700 companies worldwide and is a prerequisite for the inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). The evaluation is based on financially relevant sustainability criteria.

In 2020, the KION Group received a sustainability score of 53 and is not included in the DJSI. This result places the KION Group in the 77th percentile of the companies evaluated in the industry group “IEQ Machinery and Electrical Equipment”.

MSCI ESG Rating

MSCI ESG Research provides MSCI ESG Ratings on global public and a few private companies on a scale of AAA (leader) to CCC (laggard), according to exposure to industry-specific ESG risks and the ability to manage those risks relative to peers. Learn more about MSCI ESG ratings here.

DISCLAIMER
THE USE BY KION GROUP AG OF ANY MSCI ESG RESEARCH LLC OR ITS AFFILIATES (“MSCI”) DATA, AND THE USE OF MSCI LOGOS, TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS OR INDEX NAMES HEREIN, DO NOT CONSTITUTE A SPONSORSHIP, ENDORSEMENT, RECOMMENDATION, OR PROMOTION OF KION GROUP AG BY MSCI. MSCI SERVICES AND DATA ARE THE PROPERTY OF MSCI OR ITS INFORMATION PROVIDERS, AND ARE PROVIDED ‘AS-IS’ AND WITHOUT WARRANTY. MSCI NAMES AND LOGOS ARE TRADEMARKS OR SERVICE MARKS OF MSCI.

Sustainalytics

Sustainalytics is a global leader in ESG research and ratings. Today, Sustainalytics supports hundreds of investors worldwide who incorporate ESG insights into their investment processes. In the 2020 ESG rating, the KION Group received an overall ESG score of 71. In the ESG Risk Rating, in January 2021, the KION Group was assigned a medium risk of experiencing material financial impacts from ESG factors with a score of 24.2.

STOXX® Europe Sustainability

The STOXX Europe Sustainability Index offers a consistent, flexible and investable representation of the largest European sustainability leaders based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. With a variable number of components, the STOXX Europe Sustainability Index covers stocks from 17 European countries. The ratings are based on the research approach of Bank Sarasin, with exclusion of tobacco, adult entertainment and defense & armament.

Vigeo Eiris

Vigeo Eiris publishes ratings and opinions using a variety of scores, assessments and written research to fulfil a broad range of market needs – including the launch of ESG indices powered by Vigeo Eiris in collaboration with Euronext and/or Ethibel. In May 2020 the KION Group achieved an overall ESG score of 45. The score placed KION 4th out of 48 in Industrial Goods and Services sector in Europe.

SDG 3 - Good health and well-being

The KION Group contributes to the achievement of SDG 3 in two key areas: by implementing effective health and safety management measures in the workplace and by offering products and solutions that aim to set new standards of workplace safety and ergonomics.

Our comprehensive HSE (health, safety, environment) management ensures that our workplaces are safe and the health of our employees is safeguarded. Metrics such as the illness rate and the lost time injury frequency rate provide a transparent picture of our progress in this area and a basis for the definition of concrete targets. To promote continuous improvement, we have implemented measures that reach virtually everyone in the company – from safety reminders at the start of meetings to the promotion of safe and ergonomic workplace design, and even campaigns to raise awareness about healthy eating.

Active and passive safety systems built into Linde and STILL industrial trucks ensure maximum safety and reduce the risk of accidents. At the same time, our trucks’ decoupled operator cabs and shock-absorbing driver’s workstations are designed to offer the highest possible level of ergonomic support. Dematic’s logistics solutions use intelligent control software that helps to increase efficiency while also reducing risks and avoiding dangerous situations.

SDG 7 - Affordable and clean energy

Climate protection is a core objective of the KION Group in the environmental sphere (see also SDG 13). We are therefore working hard to reduce the company’s energy consumption systematically and we endeavor to switch to more climate-friendly energy sources where possible. In this respect, our primary focus is on electricity, the main form of energy consumed at our plants.

To the greatest possible extent, we are shifting the electricity mix of our plants toward renewable energy sources. We are also using photovoltaic technology to generate electricity, for example at our Summerville site in the US state of South Carolina and at our new plant in Pune, India.

SDG 8 - Decent work and economic growth

Respecting human rights is a fundamental principle of our activities – all around the world and in everything we do. Minimum standards for employment apply across the entire KION Group. These standards are based on the fundamental conventions drawn up by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and cover all significant aspects of human rights. Furthermore, the KION Group is committed to paying its employees remuneration that is appropriate to the industry in the particular country and provides a living wage. In addition, the company is strongly committed to promoting health and safety in the workplace (see SDG 3).

We also expect all of our suppliers worldwide to provide safe working conditions for their employees and comply with minimum social standards. The KION Group Principles of Supplier Conduct set out clear environmental and ethical guidelines, while the KION Group Code of Compliance and our General Purchasing Conditions stipulate specific requirements and rules of conduct.

For further information, please refer to our sustainability report (p. 27 et seq. and p. 40 et seq.).

SDG 10 - Reduced inequalities

The KION Group strives to ensure the personal dignity of every individual and promotes mutual respect, regardless of characteristics such as gender, skin color, ethnic or social background, age, or religion. These principles are firmly enshrined in the minimum employment standards of the KION Group, which apply worldwide and across all Group sites. We are a global enterprise with a diverse workforce from all parts of the world. In addition to equality of opportunity and the fair treatment of all employees, the company’s understanding of diversity therefore also involves tolerance and respect for different ways of thinking. Standardized talent management processes support the elimination of diversity-related barriers to career progression.

The high standards that we apply to our own practices also shape the setup of our supply chains. We require those who want to collaborate with us to show the same level of commitment to promoting diversity and equality of opportunity, and we expect to see this reflected in their actions. For example, our suppliers are obliged to combat all forms of discrimination under the KION Group Principles of Supplier Conduct. After all, we know that our responsibility does not end at the gates of our factories.

SDG 12 - Responsible consumption and production

The KION Group is a trailblazer in the field of green intralogistics. We design our products and solutions to have minimum environmental impact and maximum energy efficiency, because we want to offer our customers solutions that are not only ideally suited to their relevant area of application, but also climate-friendly, resource-efficient, and therefore cost-effective. Especially when it comes to developing sustainable drive technologies – such as lithium-ion batteries or fuel cells – we see ourselves as an industry pioneer that is making a significant contribution to the protection of our climate and the natural environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to making our products and solutions as safe and user-friendly as possible, we always keep our customers up to date about how to use our products safely (see also SDG 3).

Socially and environmentally responsible sourcing processes, including defined minimum standards for our suppliers, enhance the sustainability of our production. Our expectations and aspirations are clearly outlined in a set of concrete requirements and rules. EcoVadis assessments are used to prompt suppliers to provide information about their sustainability performance.

SDG 13 - Climate action

We support the agreements reached at the Paris Climate Change Conference, especially the objective of limiting global warming to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Against this backdrop, we set ourselves a climate target in 2018 based on scientific research: By 2027, we want to reduce our Group’s energy-related emissions by 30 percent (reference year: 2017). Reducing our energy consumption – for example across our vehicle fleets – and using climate-friendly energy sources (see also SDG 7) are key levers we need to shift within our business to reach this climate target.

Certified lifecycle assessments of our most important products have revealed that energy and fuel consumption are the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions during their use phase. Enhancing energy efficiency is therefore a priority in product development. And we are also including our supply chain in our efforts to mitigate climate change (see also SDG 12).

SDG 17 - Partnerships for the goals

In the KION Group, we know that it takes concerted action to effect lasting change. Close involvement of relevant stakeholders and targeted partnerships, aimed at achieving more by joining forces, therefore form a key element of our sustainability management. For instance, we support the Blue Competence sustainability initiative within the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA). And as a member of various other associations and boards, we are also involved in the development of environmental standards under schemes such as ISO, CEN, and DIN.