Foreword
Dear Reader,
The year 2022 was another one full of challenges: the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, soaring inflation, massive problems with the supply chains and exploding energy prices. And, above all, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has struck the local population heavily and caused immeasurable suffering. This war also has significant impacts on our business, not least due to the sanctions that have been imposed on Russia.
In this context, however, let us note that, even in challenging times, Knorr-Bremse possesses the strength of a future-shaping company. Our 31,600 employees helped us to stay on our successful path in 2022 and keep setting technological standards, with sustainability being an integral part of our business activities. This is because our system technology supports our customers in the rail and commercial vehicle industries with the transition to sustainable mobility, a transition that we are actively driving ourselves. By simultaneously fulfilling our responsibility to the environment, employees and society, we seek to contribute to a livable world.
As the Executive Board of Knorr-Bremse, we are united in our commitment to taking sustainable action. For us, corporate responsibility and sustainable business practices are a matter of course. In this report, we look back on fiscal year 2022, a period in which we raised our commitment to sustainability to a new level. By aligning our strategy and corresponding measures more closely with the three ESG dimensions (environment, social and governance), we are strengthening our commitment to sustainability in the present and focusing on the future. In doing so, we are ensuring comparability in our sustainability management and meeting the expectations of the financial market, the industry and many customers. In this regard, we once again initiated forward-looking projects in 2022:
We further strengthened our structures for responsible corporate governance strategically, organizationally and operationally. The integration of sustainability targets into the remuneration system for management levels 0-2 and the inclusion of ESG criteria in three financing instruments are just a few examples of this. We see compliance with responsible business practices and principles as part of our everyday work. One example of this is our ambition to make the supply chain sustainable. During the reporting period, we broadened our engagement for the respect of human rights in accordance with the requirements of the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act.
Sustainable action in all areas of responsibility – this is what the Executive Board of Knorr-Bremse AG stands for
“As a global market leader, Knorr-Bremse drives innovation for sustainable, safety-critical system solutions. Simultaneously, we also want to utilize our company’s enormous potential in the area of sustainability – for the benefit of society, of Knorr-Bremse and of all its customers. I believe we are on a good path for this. After all, the measures that we have already implemented for climate protection, a sustainable product portfolio and responsible corporate governance are a core element of our performance record.”
“ESG-linked financing is going to have an increasingly important role in order to drive sustainability targets at all levels of the value chain. Right now, 70% of our long-term capital market financing instruments are already linked to sustainability-related criteria. Collecting the necessary data is challenging, but it is also an essential requirement for the improvements we want to make in our processes and in processes across the value chain.”
“For me, diversity means responding to individuality and differences with appreciation and respect. The differing achievements, experiences, personalities and ways of thinking among employees must be recognized so they can fully utilize their unique potential. This is because diverse teams are a game changer when building a sustainable company. An important matter for me is to increase the share of women in the workforce and in management. We have set specific targets for this ambition.”
“Rail has a key function in the transition toward sustainable mobility – for passenger transportation as well as freight transportation. We meet the high sustainability demands of our customers with a high level of responsibility in product technology and a high level of corporate responsibility. Our increasingly connected train systems contribute to the reduction of emissions and energy consumption in rail transportation. Furthermore, Knorr-Bremse’s products are designed to be compatible with the vision of a circular economy.”
“We support our customers in the transformation of the commercial vehicle industry. The industry’s sustainable direction boosts our company’s future viability and offers major opportunities for our product strategy and for new business models. Examples I can mention in this context include innovative products for transportation safety, e-mobility and automated driving. The focus is on a circular economy, reducing emissions and lowering energy consumption.”
We see climate change and the responsible use of environmental resources as key challenges. We counter them with our climate protection strategy and innovative product portfolio, which makes a contribution to sustainable mobility. Taking a leading role for environmental protection and further decarbonization is crucial for Knorr-Bremse’s long-term strategy. We are fully on course to meet our target of reducing our production-related carbon emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by half by 2030, a target that we set back in 2019. In addition, we have decided to expand our climate targets and include upstream and downstream processes, too. By 2030, we want to reduce the main emissions associated with our business activities across the value chain (Scope 3) by 25%. To further emphasize this strong commitment, we have also submitted our targets to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for review.
The transformation in transportation and mobility is developing in a highly dynamic manner across the world, and Knorr-Bremse is a driving force of this progress. At the trade fairs held in 2022, customers clearly demonstrated demand and willingness for sustainable mobility solutions. As a systems supplier, we offer our customers these solutions.
The Rail Vehicle Systems (RVS) division could feel change in the air at InnoTrans 2022 in Berlin. Our Digital Automatic Coupler (DAC) was one of the contributing factors for this. As part of the Digital Freight Trains solution package, it will be an important lever for environmentally friendly, rail-based goods transportation. The development of digital services like these helps to improve train life cycle management, with smart maintenance, for example.
This was also reflected in the presence of our Commercial Vehicle Systems (CVS) division at the IAA Transportation 2022. Our eCUBATOR innovation unit develops system solutions for the zero-emission commercial vehicles of the future. Through our ongoing development of the commercial vehicle steering business, we offer electric power steering (EPS) – a key technology for automated driver assistance systems (ADAS), highly automated driving (HAD) and e-mobility.
As an attractive and responsible employer, we want to secure our technological leadership and counteract the shortage of skilled workers. For this reason, we take advantage of progressing digitalization to develop innovative products and optimize our internal processes. In terms of our human resources, our OneHR project – which has moved forward successfully – lays the foundation for globally standardized processes. Offering an efficient and attractive working environment will, among other things, also contribute to us achieving our newly defined quotas for the share of women in the workforce (25%) and in management (20%).
As you can see, we consistently continued to pursue and implement our clear approach toward sustainability in 2022. We are delighted that you would like to learn more about our strategy, targets and measures and hope you will enjoy reading our Sustainability Report, which, for the first time this year is an online report with an additional magazine section.
The Executive Board
Knorr-Bremse AG
