Sustainable Development Goals
Guided by the company values, the Schaeffler Group creates the conditions for long-term, profitable growth. In terms of the company’s understanding of sustainability, this means being economically successful while at the same time assuming responsibility for the environment and society. The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) form the foundation of the company’s sustainability engagement. The following clickable overview shows how the Schaeffler Group specifically contributes to the SDGs.
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Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being
The health and well-being of the employees are important to the Schaeffler Group. The company is committed to reducing the frequency of occupational accidents by an average of 10 % annually until 2024. The “Safe Work@Schaeffler” project was initiated to achieve this strategic target. The idea is to raise awareness of occupational safety among all employees and managers. With its coronavirus vaccination campaign, the Schaeffler Group played a key role in ensuring the health of employees and their families.
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Goal 4: Quality Education
High-quality training and further development of employees has high priority for the Schaeffler Group. In 2021, the company employed 2,643 apprentices at 48 locations in 16 countries worldwide. To maintain and continuously develop the high quality of training in the Schaeffler Group, global standards and conditions need to be established and expanded. Fields of study were also incorporated into the learning portfolio taking the company’s technological developments into account – e.g., in the areas of Cyber Security and Robotics.
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Goal 5: Gender Equality
The Group also promotes equal opportunity and training and is socially active in an effort to strengthen gender equality. The target quotas set in 2017 of 8 % women on first management level and 12 % women on second management level below the Executive Board were already achieved for Schaeffler AG in 2020 and 2021. The Schaeffler Group is in the process of establishing its medium-term target to increase the proportion of women, including the top management levels of the Schaeffler Group.
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Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
The scarcity of global water resources is steadily progressing. The issue of wa-ter was integrated into Schaeffler’s risk management in order to respond to potential water shortages in certain regions. Water dependence is systematical-ly being reduced in an effort to minimize water-related production risks. For this reason, a long-term target was adopted in 2020 to reduce freshwater with-drawal by 20 % until 2030. Schaeffler locations treat industrial wastewater with appropriate plant technology so that it can be reused.
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Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
Yet while electricity from wind, sunlight, and hydropower is becoming increasingly affordable, availability fluctuates and is unequally distributed around the world. As a universal energy source that is both storable and transportable, hydrogen plays a decisive role. The cross-divisional approach is aimed at developing technological solutions that enable both the production and use of hydrogen. The Industrial division supplies key components for electrolyzers. As a partner of the energy industry, the Schaeffler Group promotes the expansion of renewable energy production with its products, e.g., for wind power.
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Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
For the Schaeffler Group respect for human rights is an indispensable part of corporate responsibility. The company rejects any form of human rights violations such as child and forced labour or discrimination based on racial/ethnic origin, colour, or gender. Respect for human rights is part of the group-wide Code of Conduct and our Supplier Code of Conduct. The Schaeffler Group conducted a human rights risk assessment with a focus on its own company in the year under review. The company has also published a policy to prevent human trafficking.
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Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
The Industrial division supplies key components for electrolyzers, which are the underlying technology in the production of green hydrogen. In addition, efficient bearing solutions for wind, solar, and hydropower energy are being developed to increase the energy yield and the level of efficiency. In the Automotive Technologies division, the company continues to develop bipolar plate components for fuel cells used to convert hydrogen gas directly into power. The Automotive Aftermarket division is responsible for the global spare parts business and supplies innovative repair solutions in original-equipment quality.
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Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
The Schaeffler Group takes a holistic approach to developing innovative product solutions for the demands of the future – Schaeffler Industrial increases energy efficiency in wind turbines with its low-friction bearings. Automotive Technologies develops alternative drive technologies that help reduce the average CO2 emissions of vehicles. Automotive Aftermarket solutions extend the lifecycle of vehicles in accordance with the latest environmental standards.
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Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
In the Schaeffler Group's climate program, Sustainable production is one of the three pillars of the climate target "climate neutral company 2040". Most importantly, the sustainable production pillar encompasses the Sustainable Sites initiative, which strengthens the sustainability performance of all production sites. In addition to the use of renewable energies and improved energy efficiency, the initiative also focuses on the careful use of resources and maximum safety standards for employees.
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Goal 13: Climate Action
As a leading technology company, the Group is also committed to developing internal processes that are as energy- and resource-efficient as possible, with a focus on continuously improving all environmental and energy-related processes. Internal production (Scope 1 and 2) will be climate-neutral as of 2030, with 75 % of production emissions eliminated by 2025. The emissions resulting from intermediates and raw materials in the supply chain (Scope 3 upstream) will be reduced by 25 % by 2030. The Schaeffler Group will also be climate-neutral in this area by 2040.
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Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals
To establish a shared understanding of sustainability, the Schaeffler Group is active in a variety of initiatives and associations that promote standardized measures and processes for effective sustainability management. For example, the company is involved in multi-stakeholder initiatives such as the industry dialogue of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.