DHL Group

Reference: page 59

As a listed German stock corporation, DHL Group (Deutsche Post AG) operates a two-tier system. The Board of Management manages the company and is appointed, overseen and advised by the Supervisory Board. The Board of Management has eight members (75% male, 25% female) and is the key decision-maker for the Group's strategic direction on sustainability, identifying and assessing sustainability-related impacts, risks and opportunities and managing them across board departments. The CEO sets strategic direction; the HR, Finance and Global Business Services departments hold specific responsibilities, and a Sustainability Steering Board (CEO, CFO, CHRO and specialist executives) met three times in the reporting year. The Supervisory Board comprises 20 members (ten shareholder, ten employee representatives; 60% male, 40% female; all shareholder representatives independent) with six committees, including the Strategy and Sustainability Committee and the Finance and Audit Committee. An external Sustainability Advisory Council provides expertise.

Reference: page 62

The materiality assessment results were discussed with the Board of Management, including implementation of due diligence, and the Supervisory Board was informed of the results and the associated adjustments to the reporting structure. Each division holds quarterly business review meetings (once a year with the full Board of Management, three times with the CEO and CFO) where the development of sustainability targets is discussed; separate quarterly ESG business performance meetings chaired by the CFO were established in the year under review. The Supervisory Board and its Strategy and Sustainability Committee and Finance and Audit Committee receive quarterly reports from the Board of Management on material impacts, risks and opportunities, due diligence implementation, and the results and effectiveness of policies, actions, metrics and targets. The execution and results of the materiality assessment and the contents of the Sustainability Statement were presented and discussed at the December meetings of the Finance and Audit Committee, the Human Resources Committee and the full Supervisory Board.

Reference: page 63

Sustainability was factored into the annual bonus of Board of Management members through three performance indicators, each weighted at 10%: Realized Decarbonization Effects, Employee Engagement and the cybersecurity rating. The decarbonization indicator supports the objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening low-carbon logistics solutions; Employee Engagement measures success as an "Employer of Choice"; and the cybersecurity rating provides a neutral, transparent assessment of DHL Group's cybersecurity position. In the year under review, the proportion of recognized Board of Management remuneration linked to climate-related performance was 3.1%. No target-related remuneration components are defined for the Supervisory Board. The remuneration system is reviewed regularly by the Supervisory Board and presented to the Annual General Meeting for approval. The Supervisory Board adopted a measure to include sustainability-related performance factors in the long-term remuneration components for the Board of Management starting in 2026. The same metrics are used for performance-based remuneration of upper management.

Reference: page 63

DHL Group conducts business in accordance with applicable law and self-imposed sustainability standards. It signed the UN Global Compact in 2006, and the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work are anchored in its Code of Conduct and Human Rights Policy Statement. Human rights focus areas include rejecting child and forced labor, working conditions (working hours, occupational health and safety), equal opportunity, data protection and freedom of association. A Supplier Code of Conduct binds suppliers and subcontractors to its principles. Actions follow the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains (LkSG), monitored by the LkSG Council. A table maps the core elements of due diligence (embedding in governance/strategy/business model, engaging affected stakeholders, identifying and assessing negative impacts, taking remedial actions, and tracking and communicating effectiveness) to relevant references. Corporate Internal Audit examines application of Group policies, including human rights.

Reference: page 64

Sustainability is taken into account Group-wide via the opportunity and risk management system, and sustainability reporting controls are implemented through the internal control system (ICS). Opportunities and risks are identified and assessed decentrally, with reporting on deviations from projections and on long-term or latent opportunities and risks occurring primarily at country or regional level; the processes and identified opportunities and risks are described in detail in the Opportunity and Risk Report. The ICS is designed to follow the internationally recognized COSO framework and is continuously updated and enhanced. Minimum requirements are defined on the basis of identified risks and control objectives and fulfilled through suitable controls in the divisions' control frameworks, with essential control requirements established for defining, capturing, calculating and reporting all sustainability indicators and governance processes. Corporate Internal Audit evaluates the effectiveness of the risk management system, control mechanisms, and management and monitoring processes, and compliance with Group policies, through independent regular and ad hoc audits at all Group entities and headquarters.

Reference: page 65

Under the DHL and Deutsche Post brands, DHL Group provides international express shipping, freight transport, supply chain management, e-commerce and post and parcel services, organized into five divisions (Express; Global Forwarding, Freight; Supply Chain; eCommerce; Post & Parcel Germany), with centralized Corporate Center functions; Deutsche Post AG is the Group parent. Building on Strategy 2030 ("Accelerate sustainable growth"), a fourth bottom line, "Green Logistics of Choice," was added alongside Provider, Employer and Investment of Choice, embedding the 2021 ESG Roadmap into the strategy. Progress is steered through seven indicators: logistics-related GHG emissions, Realized Decarbonization Effects, Employee Engagement, share of women in management, accident rate (LTIFR), valid compliance training certificates, and the cybersecurity rating. In the upstream value chain, transport services are rendered by subcontractors and goods such as vehicles, aircraft, buildings, energy and fuel are purchased. The Group generated revenue of EUR 84,186 million with 601,723 employees at year-end. DHL opted not to disclose anticipated financial effects for the first ESRS year (phase-in option).

Reference: page 66

DHL Group prioritizes regular exchanges with stakeholders, particularly customers, employees and potential employees, trade union and works council representatives, and investors, as set out in its Stakeholder Engagement Policy. Stakeholder demands are considered when developing strategy and organizing the business model, and stakeholder views and evaluations feed into the materiality assessment. The Group uses a range of interaction platforms and its Sustainability Advisory Council, composed of eight experts from the sciences, business and politics, regularly advises the Board of Management and contributes an external perspective to implementing sustainability in Strategy 2030. DHL supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with its commitment most closely aligned to SDGs 4, 5, 8, 11, 13 and 17, and participates in sustainability initiatives and standard-setting bodies such as EFRAG and the International Sustainability Standards Board. A table lists interaction channels by stakeholder group (customers, own workforce, workers' representatives, shareholders and investors, suppliers, policymakers, and nature as a silent stakeholder).

Reference: page 67

In the double materiality assessment, DHL Group considered both financial materiality and the materiality of impacts, identifying and evaluating impacts, risks and opportunities (IROs) and their interaction with its strategy, business model and upstream value chain. On that basis it classified the ESRS topics of climate change (E1), own workforce (S1), workers in the value chain (S2) and business conduct (G1) as material, along with the entity-specific topic of cybersecurity (and data protection); these also served as the basis for Strategy 2030, which the Board of Management and Supervisory Board reviewed and confirmed in 2024. The risks and opportunities identified did not negatively affect the financial result, nor were impacts on recoverable amounts of assets identified. ESRS E2 Pollution, E3 Water and Marine Resources, E4 Biodiversity and Ecosystems, S3 Affected Communities and S4 Consumers and End-users were found immaterial; E5 Resource Use and Circular Economy was in the threshold area and also deemed immaterial. DHL opted not to disclose anticipated financial effects for the first ESRS year (phase-in option).

Reference: page 68

In 2023, DHL Group designed and executed its first materiality assessment based on the new ESRS requirements, identifying and assessing IROs in internal expert meetings and in-depth assessments, discussed with internal and external stakeholders and informed by previous GRI-based analyses; the 2023 findings were confirmed in the year under review and will be re-validated annually. The process began by understanding correlations between the impacts and dependencies of business activities, business relationships, stakeholders and ESRS sustainability matters, also drawing on the Risk Management Report, LkSG and CSDDD analyses, capital market requirements and voluntary standards. Workshops with experts from specialist functions, Corporate Procurement (upstream value chain) and Sales & Marketing (customer perspective), plus stakeholder interviews and a location-based biodiversity analysis, supported identification. Divisional sustainability experts assessed materiality using a standardized, additive points-based scoring method, aggregated by divisional share of Group revenue. A double-materiality threshold zone around 50% of the maximum score on each axis was applied, with final validation by the Board of Management. Climate-related IROs used TCFD-aligned scenario analysis (RCP 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5) over 2030, 2050 and 2100 horizons; no material physical climate risks were identified.

Reference: page 117

For its first ESRS reporting year, DHL Group provides a table of mandatory disclosures pursuant to ESRS 2, prepared on the basis of the materiality assessment, mapping each disclosure requirement to its location in the statement. The general disclosures ESRS 2 BP-1, BP-2, GOV-1 to GOV-5, SBM-1 to SBM-3 and IRO-1 and IRO-2 are reported, mainly in the General information section and the section on strategy, business model, value chain, stakeholders and material IROs. The topical standards assessed as material and therefore covered are ESRS E1 Climate change, S1 Own workforce, S2 Workers in the value chain and G1 Business conduct, plus the entity-specific topic of cybersecurity (and data protection). ESRS E2 Pollution, E3 Water and Marine Resources, E4 Biodiversity and Ecosystems, S3 Affected Communities and S4 Consumers and End-users were assessed as not material; E5 Resource Use and Circular Economy was in the threshold area and also deemed immaterial. A detailed list of datapoints, including those marked "not reported" or "not material," is provided in the disclosure requirement tables.