RTL Group | Cologne/Luxembourg, 02/08/2021

Sustainable cooperation

RTL Group and Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland are pooling their expertise in the area of corporate responsibility (CR) and found the RTL CR Board. Especially in times of fake news, online disinformation, climate change and the intense debate about racism, the topic of corporate responsibility is gaining a lot of importance.

Recently, RTL Group’s two largest units, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland and Groupe M6, created new roles (see links) to manage issues such as diversity and climate protection. In future, these and other topics such as editorial independence and youth protection will be coordinated across RTL Group by the RTL CR Board. RTL Group's new Corporate Centre in Cologne considerably simplifies direct interaction with those responsible at Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland.

The RTL CR Board is made up of executives from RTL Group and Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland and coordinates operational work on CR topics. Its members are: Julia Reuter, Managing Director Strategy, Human Resources and Culture of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland; Oliver Fahlbusch, Executive Vice President Communications & Investor Relations of RTL Group; Anja Reichert, Head of Corporate Responsibility & Diversity Coordination of RTL Group; and Marie-Fee Taube, Director Sustainability of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland. The team meets monthly to exchange ideas.

Julia Reuter says: “As Germany’s leading TV company, we have both the power and the responsibility to firmly anchor sustainability – social, ecological and economic – in our attitudes and actions and to actively drive it forward. At the same time, issues such as diversity, community, and the environment require global coordinated action. On the RTL CR Board we aim to address common issues, create impetus, and sustainably extend it into our content and companies.”

Oliver Fahlbusch has been responsible for coordinating CR issues at RTL Group since the beginning of 2016 and has also been a member of the Bertelsmann CR Council since then: “I am very much looking forward to working even more closely with my colleagues at Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland. Corporate responsibility is a major interdisciplinary issue for which we need the input and expertise of numerous departments. With the establishment of the RTL CR Board, we want to strengthen involvement for CR: we pool our resources, benefit from many different perspectives and thereby aim to implement our CR projects faster and more efficiently.”

In future, an annual international exchange will continue to take place in the RTL CR Network with the CR managers of the various business units. The focus will be on exchanging knowledge and best practice.

The RTL CR Board also meets annually in Cologne with the relevant departments of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland (Stiftung RTL, HR, Standards & Practices [protection of minors], Communications, Facility Management) and RTL Group (HR, Investor Relations, Compliance).

Through intensive exchange with the business units and specialist departments, the RTL CR Board gains insights into local initiatives and can coordinate the implementation of Group-wide projects and focus topics.

RTL Group’s new Climate Task Force was also launched in 2021. This Group-wide working group meets to exchange views on the defined climate targets. All business units are brought on board to significantly reduce CO2 emissions – aiming to make RTL Group climate neutral by 2030. At the first meeting several successfully implemented climate projects were presented. The participants were also informed about the measurement of the carbon footprint and Bertelsmann-wide offsetting projects.

We are pleased to announce that RTL Group is once again a member of the FTSE4Good Index Series this year – a market-leading sustainability tool for investors. Since its foundation in 2001, the FTSE4Good Index has rated companies in the areas of environment, social, and governance (ESG rating).