Governance

The Vossloh Executive Board bears overall responsibility for all sustainability issues. In operational management, sustainability is the responsibility of the Chief Operating Officer (COO). In addition, Vossloh AG has a Corporate Sustainability department. The Head of Corporate Sustainability, a position created in 2020 that reports directly to the Executive Board, is responsible for developing and implementing the sustainability strategy and for managing Group-wide sustainability initiatives. Furthermore, the Executive Board has established a Group Sustainability Committee to centrally manage all sustainability activities within the Group, which is chaired by the Head of Corporate Sustainability. In addition, each business unit has appointed a sustainability, health, and safety officer. At the operational level, sustainability issues are integrated into management indicators, risk management, and business unit planning. This systematic approach ensures that ESG criteria are not only met but also actively contribute to the company's performance. 

Like all non-financial risks and opportunities, the significant sustainability impacts, risks, and opportunities to which Vossloh is exposed are subject to systematic internal control, assessment, and management. Risks may arise in relation to sustainability issues that are material to the company with regard to the completeness and integrity of the data collected, the timing of the availability of information, and, in particular, the availability of data on the upstream and downstream value chain. To prevent or limit these risks, they are included in the Group-wide risk and opportunity management system. The same monetary thresholds are applied to the assessment of risks and opportunities as to Vossloh's general financial risk assessment.

Vossloh's materiality analysis for 2021 was significantly expanded for the current Group sustainability statement in the 2024 Annual Report in accordance with the requirements of the ESRS. As part of the preparation, all categories contained in the ESRS (E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, S1, S2, S3, S4, and G1) as well as several company-specific sustainability topics (cybersecurity, track availability and efficiency in rail transport, noise reduction on tracks) were subjected to a double materiality analysis, i.e., with regard to the (positive and negative) impacts of Vossloh's activities on people and the environment, as well as with regard to the (financial) risks and opportunities arising from sustainability-related topics for the company.

As a global company with a tradition stretching back some 140 years, Vossloh bears social responsibility toward its customers, employees, partners, investors, and the general public. Vossloh derives its claim from this responsibility, which requires the company and its employees to comply with applicable laws, respect fundamental ethical values, and act in an exemplary manner at all times and in all places. This claim is set out in writing in the Vossloh Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct, which all employees receive and sign upon joining the company, is designed to help them fulfill this responsibility.

Avoiding violations of the law of any kind, in particular corruption in accordance with the United Nations Convention against Corruption and anti-competitive behavior in accordance with, in particular, antitrust regulations of the European Union and the United States, is a central concern of the Executive Board for the entire Vossloh Group. The Executive Board has also summarized this unambiguously in its Compliance Commitment, which states, among other things: "Compliance with the law has absolute priority over the conclusion of a business transaction or the achievement of internal targets. We would rather forego an order than violate the law. Violations of laws and our internal guidelines will not be tolerated and will result in sanctions (zero tolerance)."

Compliance audits are conducted, mostly with the support of external auditing companies, to verify compliance with the requirements of the compliance management system in the individual operating units. These audits are conducted both on an ad hoc basis and independently of any suspicion.

Vossloh manages its operational and strategic business processes with the help of powerful information technology. The demands on IT are becoming increasingly stringent as the company continues to digitalize. At the same time, there is a steady increase in cyber security threats. The manufacturing industry is the most frequently attacked sector in Europe, accounting for 28% of all cybercrime incidents. As part of the optimization of its IT security, Vossloh has established an information security management system (ISMS) to protect against digital threats. It is scheduled to be certified to ISO 27001 in 2025.

The Group Sustainability Statement in the 2024 Annual Report was prepared in accordance with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The Group Sustainability Statement was audited by an independent auditor to obtain limited assurance in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 (Revised): Assurance Engagements Other Than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB).

Since fiscal 2021, Vossloh has been implementing the reporting requirements of the EU Taxonomy Regulation. This is a standardized classification system for defining environmentally sustainable economic activities.