Siemens in dialog

Sustainability and acting responsibly can’t be achieved by going it alone. Those goals can only be accomplished through dialog or joint initiatives by business, government, science and society.

We believe that complex, interlocking sustainability challenges and topics benefit in particular from close collaboration with as many selected stakeholders as possible.

Siemens is a member or partner of many important national and international organizations. The Company also contributes its expertise to the events and committees of international organizations, and commits itself to their initiatives.

We maintain particularly close contact to the institutions listed below, but Siemens is also active in a wide array of other initiatives and partnerships in the areas of environmental and social engagement.

World Business Council for Sustainable Development

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development is the most important sustainability organization funded by companies in the world. It deals exclusively with the topic of business and sustainable development.

Around 200 companies belong to the WBCSD. Its members are drawn from more than 35 countries and 20 major industrial sectors. The Council also benefits from a global network of some 60 national and regional business councils and regional partners.

Siemens became a member in November 2009. This gives us both an opportunity and an obligation to apply our comprehensive knowledge and wide-ranging experience in various WBCSD forums. Topics of particular interest for Siemens include energy and climate, urban infrastructures and electricity and power utilities, for example. Through the WBCSD’s Urban Infrastructure Initiative, we’re working with numerous partners worldwide to promote sustainable urban development.

World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Global Compact of the United Nations (UN Global Compact)

Siemens joined the UN Global Compact initiative in November 2003. The initiative was launched by the United Nations to bring companies together with governments, business and the public at large to call attention to the global propagation of and respect for sustainable rules of conduct. As a participant, Siemens has committed itself to the Global Compact's code of values and rules of conduct.

The code consists of ten principles derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Principles of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development; they touch on concerns in the areas of human rights, labor standards, environmental protection and anti-corruption.

UN Global Compact

Since 2007, we integrate the Communication on Progress according to the Global Compact in our Sustainability Report (up to 2007: Corporate Responsibility Report).

You can see the Communication on Progress reports here:

Concrete results of the collaboration with the UN Global Compact include two publications on best practices in strategic social investment to which we contributed by providing practical project examples.

World Economic Forum (WEF)

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization that aims to help overcome global challenges through partnerships. Its agenda includes global, regional and industry topics. Siemens is among the strategic partners of the World Economic Forum.

The Forum provides an excellent opportunity to dialog and share ideas with other businesses attending the Annual General Meeting in Davos and to discuss key local issues at the many regional conferences taking place.

Siemens is an official member of the anti-corruption initiative of the WEF, Partnering Against Corruption (PACI). Formed in 2004, this initiative unites more than 140 important international industrial groups in the private-sector battle against corruption on the employer side. Its goal is to develop principles for industries in order to create an even playing field for all companies and to ensure fairness and transparency.

World Resources Institute (WRI)

The WRI is an independent research institution dedicated to solving global environmental problems. It focuses on climate change, institutional and market solutions for environmental issues and on the protection of ecosystems.

Siemens is a member of a group of companies that supports and advises the WRI and engages in collaborative projects. For example, we’re sharing our experiences gathered in the WRI Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG) Initiative, done in cooperation with the WBCSD, in an effort to promote greater transparency in carbon emissions reporting. The aim of the GHG Protocol Initiative is to establish a consistent accounting framework for countries’, organizations’ and products’ carbon emissions. Greenhouse gas protocols mark an important step toward measurability and comparability.

World Resources Institute

econsense – Forum for Sustainable Development

econsense, an initiative launched in 2000 by the Federal Association of German Industry (BDI), is a joint project of leading companies and organizations in the German business world which have incorporated sustainable development into their company strategy. It was initiated to provide a dialog platform for sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. The members of econsense engage with policymakers, NGOs, the scientific community, and the public at large to discuss the opportunities that sustainable development can afford the German economy.

Since 2004, econsense has been a regional network partner of the WBCSD.

econsense

Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

Carbon Disclosure Project - Accredited Provider 2012

The CDP is a non-profit organization that represents over 722 institutional investors. It invites companies all over the world to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and reduction strategies. The investment companies represented by the CDP currently have more than 87 trillion U.S. dollars in assets under management, and thus own a majority of the world's listed companies with the highest sales.

In addition to the annual publication of the Global 500 report, CDP offers carbon reduction partnerships to a limited number of companies. Siemens has been supporting the CDP Carbon Reduction Program as CDP's first carbon reduction partner since 2011. Renowned carbon reduction partners offer technologies and services that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This partnership program complements the investor-run CDP Carbon Action initiative, which aims to promote profitable activities by companies for the reduction of greenhouse gases.

CDP Reduction Partnership

Siemens as a role model for the Carbon Disclosure Project (Video)

Participation in the opinion-shaping process

Through public debate, Siemens acts as a corporate citizen to participate in the opinion-shaping process in many different ways. We take positions on issues that directly or indirectly affect the Company’s business activities. These particularly include the areas of energy efficiency, infrastructure, health, the environment, and climate. We serve as a skilled contact partner in actively mastering current challenges, in direct dialog with government, industry, and organizations from civil society, at the local, regional and global levels.

Where needed, we set up special panels and forums where solutions can be developed jointly. For example, at our initiative, "Future Dialogue" was established as a forum where high-ranking representatives from science, industry and government can meet to discuss strategies for handling the great challenges of our time. In 2011, this summit was held in New Delhi, India, with a focus on "Sustainable cities: Mastering the challenges and opportunities of rapid urbanization". In April 2013, it took take place in Moscow and centered on the topic of innovation.

Future Dialogue

As part of our local corporate citizenship activities, we also cooperate with many partners to jointly address social issues. We distinguish between strategic, implementation and communication partnerships here. We select our partners carefully on the basis of our strategic priorities and with the help of a structured process.