Sustainability
management at GIZ

Think global, act local

Sustainability is an important strategic success factor for GIZ, both with our partners in our countries of assignment and within GIZ itself. As an enterprise with global operations, GIZ has a special responsibility for the environmental, social and economic impacts of its actions. That is why we introduced a Sustainability Programme in 2013, which we are constantly refining and in which we set out ambitious targets. Around the world, our staff are engaging with enthusiasm and innovative spirit not only to translate our Sustainability Programme into practice, but also to take it to the next ambitious level.

Sustainability 2.0

In 2021 we entered the next cycle of our Sustainability Programme. Because of its strategic importance, the programme is one of GIZ’s key management instruments. We have set ourselves far-reaching goals in the fields of environmental protection and social standards for the new cycle. By 2025, our aim is to cut our climate-damaging emissions by a substantial degree, use natural resources economically and help protect biodiversity. We want to put our mobility and procurement on a sustainable footing, and become even more diverse as a company. We intend to ensure gender equality and encourage our staff to report any potential irregularities. The actual progress achieved during the first year of the programme is currently being identified by means of systematic monitoring and will feature in the 2022 company report.

In 2021 we publicised the new Sustainability Programme with numerous online events inside the company. The focus was on our countries of assignment. This is where most of our staff work, and this is where we see both the greatest potential and the most urgent need for action if we are to achieve our sustainability goals. One of our aims by 2025, for instance, is to reduce by 60 per cent the volume of coolants with a high global warming potential (GWP) used in air conditioning systems and similar equipment at our locations outside Germany.

Making knowledge accessible

The Sustainability Programme is implemented at a decentralised level. At individual GIZ locations, solutions are being developed with a view to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, ensuring economical use of natural resources, and putting in place good working conditions for all. In Ghana, for example, GIZ worked with the service provider Miss Taxi to set up a car-sharing scheme for 14 projects. This is reducing exhaust emissions and saving money. All cars are driven by women, who are especially dependent on a secure income. In this way, the project is also contributing to gender equality.

Innovative approaches like these are exemplary. And that is why it is important to make the knowledge and experience gained in individual countries with the implementation of the Sustainability Programme accessible throughout the company. To this end, GIZ has developed its own standardised monitoring and data system, the Corporate Sustainability Handprint^® (CSH). At GIZ locations in the field structure, CSH officers are appointed. They record and analyse local data, such as the offices’ resource consumption, before going on to devise objectives and measures with their colleagues and managers. The CSH officers have the opportunity to meet at regular intervals in online forums to discuss specific issues. This allows them to learn from one another and broadens our knowledge base.