Sustainability and responsibility – G+D has a comprehensive strategy and clear goals

As a family-owned company with a 170-year history, G+D has always been aware of the impact of its business activities on society and embraced change as an opportunity. The corporate claim “Creating Confidence” reflects the belief that taking active responsibility creates value for the company and also for society. G+D became a signatory to the UN Global Compact in 2010 and documents its progress towards supporting the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals in an annual report. Veridos, a joint venture between G+D and Bundesdruckerei, also signed on to the UN Global Compact in 2021.

“G+D will step up its activities over the next few years. Sustainability is now explicitly embedded in our corporate strategy. This will ensure that existing and future measures are even more effective,” says Andreas Lamina, head of the new Corporate Sustainability department. The team will refine the Group-wide sustainability strategy, define goals, and monitor their achievement. The target vision is far reaching: “Through responsible action we want to be the leading company on ecological and social issues in our market segments and contribute to a healthy environment and a society worth living”, says Lamina.

G+D’s sustainability strategy focuses on three areas: environmental, social, and governance (ESG). “The environmental aspect brings together our climate and environmental protection activities and our resource conservation measures. We’re also planning to make our product portfolio even greener in the future. Developing and deploying sustainable technologies is a key action area in this respect,” says Lamina. The social category covers health and safety at work, diversity, equality, training and development, and working in a modern work environment. “This area also includes the social responsibility activities of G+D and the Giesecke+Devrient Foundation,” says Lamina. The third aspect, governance, deals with responsible and forward-looking corporate management. Lamina comments: “In addition to sustainable investment and business models, governance includes digital responsibility, data protection, ecologically and socially sustainable supply chains, and the integrity of our day-to-day business.”

Climate goal: net zero emissions by 2040

“Given the increasing number of environmental disasters seen in recent years, climate protection – meaning our contribution towards limiting global warming – is definitely one of the most important goals of our sustainability strategy,” stresses Lamina. G+D achieved its previous climate goal, which had a deadline of 2022, ahead of schedule in 2020. The company is aiming to be even more ambitious in the future. By 2040, G+D intends to reduce its Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by at least 90 percent (compared with 2020) and thus achieve net zero across the Group. This calculation is based on criteria set by the internationally recognized Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which will review it by 2023. In addition, 85 percent of electricity purchased across the Group will come from renewable sources by 2030. G+D aims to reduce water consumption by 10 percent by 2030 (compared with 2020). “At Louisenthal and Königstein – our two large banknote paper mills in Germany, which use considerable amounts of water – we already treat 40 and 58 percent of the water, respectively, and feed it back into circulation,” says Lamina. G+D will add further ESG goals in the course of 2022.

Helping customers be more sustainable

G+D’s strong commitment to sustainability is not restricted to its own business activities. “We also work closely with our suppliers to help them achieve higher ESG standards,” says Lamina. An environmentally friendly range of products is likewise important for G+D’s sustainability strategy. As the world’s leading producer of security solutions for the payment, connectivity, identities, and digital infrastructures markets, G+D has significant scope for assisting client companies to meet their own climate goals. For example, G+D offers banks and retailers a wide range of environmentally friendly payment cards under the Convego^® Beyond brand. “Together with environmental organization Parley, we have developed a card made of recycled plastic waste recovered from the world’s oceans,” says Lamina. Similarly, Swedish fintech startup Doconomy, one of G+D’s partners, has developed a calculator that enables consumers to measure the carbon footprint of their purchases.

Published: 31/03/2022