Gütersloh, 06/30/2020

Bertelsmann Publishes Communication On Progress For UN Global Compact

Subject: Media & Services, Employees, Society, Environment
Country: International
Category: Project

Bertelsmann today published its tenth annual Communication on Progress for the United Nations Global Compact,  the world’s biggest corporate responsibility initiative. In the report, Bertelsmann summarizes its efforts in the areas of human rights, labor standards, environmental protection, and anti-corruption.

Bertelsmann has published its tenth Communication on Progress, a report mandated by the Global Compact to record the progress made on its corporate responsibility (CR) efforts. With more than 13,000 participating companies and organizations from around 160 countries, the Global Compact is the world’s biggest CR initiative. As a member, Bertelsmann has committed itself to annually disclose its diverse CR efforts in the areas of human rights, labor standards, environmental protection, and anti-corruption. “In 2019, we continued to make progress on putting corporate responsibility into action and further developing our corporate culture,” says Bertelsmann’s Chief Human Resources Officer Immanuel Hermreck. “This is also shown in our good CR ratings from external rating agencies. Many people in the company contributed to this success, at all levels. On behalf of the Bertelsmann CR Council, I would like to thank everyone for their support. Let’s keep up the good work!”

Progress made over the past year

The report shows the progress Bertelsmann and its divisions have made over the past year matters of CR. It covers a wide range of responsibility topics, including health, learning, environmental and climate protection, diversity, and responsibility for content. The report provides detailed information on how these topics are being addressed at various levels at Bertelsmann. Focal points include reducing CO2 emissions, the Udacity scholarship program, and increasing the share of women in top and senior management. The topic of compliance is also included, as is customer data protection.

Immanuel Hermreck chairs the Bertelsmann CR Council, which is comprised of the following representatives from the divisions: Oliver Fahlbusch (Executive Vice President Corporate Communications and Marketing, RTL Group), Claire von Schilling (Executive Vice President Corporate Communications and Social Responsibility, Penguin Random House), Günter Maschke (Head of Human Resources, Gruner + Jahr), Ben Katovsky (Chief Operating Officer, BMG), Boris Scholz (President Automotive, Banks and Insurances, Arvato Supply Chain Solutions), Oliver Kuhaupt (President Debt Purchase and International Collection, Arvato Financial Services), Ralf Schürmann (Chief Executive Officer, Arvato Systems S4M), Ulf Marquardt (Group Human Resources Director, Bertelsmann Printing Group) und Marie-Luise Kühn von Burgsdorff (Senior Vice President Corporate Responsibility & Diversity Management, Bertelsmann).