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Emissions & E-Waste

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Chart showing Total Net Carbon Emissions

Total Net Carbon Emissions

Compared to 2018, our carbon emissions slightly decreased, although our number of employees increased by 5.5%. While we continued our strategy to avoid and reduce our emissions wherever possible, we did see a significant increase in business flights, due to business growth, which we only partially compensated for with carbon offsets. In 2019, our carbon emissions target of 285 kilotons (kt) was exceeded by 15 kt. 

Chart showing E-Waste (Recycled)

E-Waste

Our e-waste comes from data center servers and from IT equipment including PCs, peripherals, and mobile devices. In multiple SAP locations, we cooperate with international and local e-waste disposal partners to refurbish and recycle our e-waste. In addition, we support the reuse of IT equipment internally through used-equipment shops in some country locations. 

Energy

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Chart showing Total Energy Consumption

Total Energy Consumption

Facilities management staff design and operate our facilities based on robust environmental standards. In addition, our IT operations personnel is committed to optimizing energy consumption in our data centers. 

Chart showing Total Data Center Electricity

Total Data Center Electricity

We have introduced initiatives to drive efficiency and innovation with respect to our buildings, data center operations, and infrastructure. 

Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD)

The TCFD recommends companies to disclose their climate-related financial risks to investors, lenders, insurers, and other stakeholders. SAP started to report in alignment with the TCFD recommendations in 2018. For more information, see the table below.

Area   Content   Chapter  
Governance   SAP’s governance of climate-related risks and opportunities.   Energy and Emissions  
Strategy   Actual and potential impacts of climate-related risks and opportunities on SAP’s businesses, strategy, and financial planning where such information is material.   Risk Management and Risks
Strategy and Business Model
Energy and Emissions
Risk Management   How does SAP identify, assess, and manage climate-related risks?   Risk Management and Risks  
Metrics and Targets   Metrics and targets that SAP uses to assess and manage relevant climate-related risks and opportunities where such information is material.   Energy and Emissions
Risk Management and Risks
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Our Contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals

The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a globally accepted framework which we use for communicating our purpose to “help the world run better and improve people’s lives.”The following table describes the potential positive and negative direct or indirect impacts of our company and of our products and services related to SDGs that have received a high ranking in our materiality analysis. This includes both social and environmental impacts. 

Our Potential Direct and Indirect Impact
Our KPIs and Targets
Our Policies and Selected Activities and Programs to Enhance Positive Impacts and Mitigate Negative Impacts
Where You Can Find More Information in the SAP Integrated Report and Other Sources
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Direct:
 
(+) Increase inclusive and sustainable industrialization through SAP’s investments in research and development (including in developing countries)
 
Indirect:
 
(+) Support providers of infrastructure, financial services and clean technologies
 
(+) Provide “Best Practice” business processes through standard software solutions
 
(+) Integrate small and medium-sized enterprises into global value chains and markets
NA
Direct:
 
SAP Labs Network; One Billion Lives initiative fostering purpose-driven innovation
 
Indirect:
 
SAP support for startups through various programs
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-Being
Direct:
 
(+) Provide access to a healthy lifestyle and a safe and healthy working environment for our employees

Indirect:
 
(+) Enhance safe and healthy working conditions, healthcare, and personalized medicine on a global scale

(–) Increase transparency of physical, medical, and health conditions of individuals, which might be abused
Business Health Culture Index
Direct:
 
Global Health and Safety Management Policy; Employee Assistance Program; Corporate Oncology Program for Employees

Indirect:
 
SAP Solutions for Healthcare, SAP Environment, Health and Safety Management, SAP SuccessFactors Well-Being Management by Virgin Pulse
SAP SuccessFactors Well-Being Management by Virgin Pulse
SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
Direct:
 
(+) Create decent jobs at SAP through our growth plans, specifically in developing markets
 
Indirect:
 
(+) Create three million jobs in our ecosystem (based on a 2017 study by SAP and PwC)
 
(+) Enable an inclusive economy
 
(+) Combat forced and child labor throughout supply chains
 
(–) Fuel negative effects on employment through digitalization and automation; potentially increase precarious jobs
 
(–) Decouple societal groups from entire areas of employment through an accelerated digital divide and lack of digital skills
Number of employees
Direct:

SAP recruiting programs; Diversity & Inclusion policy and programs including EDGE certification

Indirect:
 
SAP Rural Sourcing Management; SAP Ariba Supplier Risk in cooperation with Made In A Free World; Partnership with Social Enterprise UK
SDG 13 Climate Action
Direct:
 
(+) Assume responsibility for products in use-related emissions by running customer applications in the SAP green Cloud
 
(–) Emit greenhouse gases
 
Indirect:
 
(+) Contribute to climate change mitigation and strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters of our customers
 
(+) Enable holistic operational steering by integrating climate change relevant parameter
 
(–) Increase customers’ energy consumption through use of software
Become carbon neutral by 2025
Direct:
 
Global Environmental Policy; Report and reduce CO2 emissions and energy consumption; Procure 100% renewable electricity; Carbon impact relevance for Executive Board compensation
 
Indirect:
 
Green Cloud; Business ambition for 1.5°C
SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals
Direct:
 
(+) Build capacity throughout our broader ecosystem
NA
Engage in UN Global Compact, UN Development Program, UNICEF, Social World Enterprise Forum, UN Technology and Innovation Labs (UNTIL), Global Alliance for YOUth, Value Balancing Alliance, Ocean Plastics Leadership Summit, Global Partnership for Development Data, IMPACT 2030, WEF Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy, Global Battery Alliance, SDG Ambition
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
Direct:
 
(+) Drive sustainable business practices and integrated reporting
 
(–) Use energy, water, and resources; produce waste
 
Indirect:
 
(+) Decouple economic prosperity from resource consumption by enabling transparency and optimizing resource productivity in linear or circular economies
 
(–) Increase absolute resource and energy consumption because efficiency gains through automation may be counteracted (rebound effect)
We drive resource productivity with an aspiration to a world with zero waste.
Direct:
 
Beyond single-use plastic initiative; Supplier Code of Conduct; Sustainable Procurement; e-waste recycling

Indirect:
 
SAP Plastics Challenge
SAP Leonardo Plastics Challenge
SDG 4 Quality Education
Direct:
 
(+) Train and educate SAP employees
 
Indirect:
 
(+) Build capability in our ecosystem and among our customers
Engaging four million children, youth, and young adults in digital skills and coding programs by 2020
Direct:
 
Cloud-based learning management system for employees

Indirect:
 
openSAP; CSR digital literacy programs

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Downloads

SAP Integrated Report 2019

PDF

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Annual Report on Form 20-F

PDF

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Primary Financial Statements

XLS

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5-Year Summary

XLS

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