Social Responsibility

We aim to be an attractive employer, reliable partner and good neighbour, which is why we set and demand high standards.

We respect human rights, care for our employees and are dedicated to the local communities where we operate. With our Global Code of Conduct, applicable to all our employees and members of management bodies, we uphold our standards worldwide, even in areas where they voluntarily exceed local legal requirements. We trust that all our partners – our concession and joint venture partners, contractors and suppliers – share our values.

We acknowledge that the presence of our business has a direct and indirect impact on local communities. Therefore, we believe that an open and responsive dialogue with affected communities and other relevant stakeholders as well as building strong and constructive relationships with them are essential for successful partnerships. By understanding stakeholder issues and striving for joint solutions, we can maintain our social licence to operate.

Respecting human rights is an important element of how we assume our social and societal responsibility. Our commitment as defined in our Code of Conduct refers to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the ILO Core Conventions, the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Moreover, we are a signatory of the UN Global Compact and support the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs.

Our human rights due diligence process is the basis to address our impact on human rights wherever we operate. In addition, Wintershall Dea encourages partners to follow international human rights standards.

As part of our commitment, we are systematically integrating human rights criteria for assessing, managing and monitoring human rights standards into our evaluation processes, e.g. for suppliers, contractors or projects. We have a long-standing commitment to address our most salient human rights risks.

We believe that an inclusive corporate culture is essential for us to benefit from the diversity of our workforce. Employees from about 60 nations and a wide array of educational, professional and social backgrounds are contributing to the company's success.

It is therefore our declared target to foster diversity within Wintershall Dea's global work teams. We want to ensure that we benefit from these broader perspectives by giving them room to unfold and treating diversity as a core element in our company's culture and business strategy.

We strive to recruit people with technical and non-technical backgrounds who add value to Wintershall Dea – regardless of their gender, nationality, ethnicity, their religion or ideology, disability, age or sexual orientation. The principles of diversity and equity are integrated in Wintershall Dea's Global Code of Conduct. Among the most important measures are company-wide standards, adjusted Human Resource processes, internal and external awareness campaigns, as well as training courses.

To achieve these goals, Wintershall Dea has implemented a global, interdisciplinary and diverse group known as the "Diversity Circle". The group helps shape and support further change and the implementation of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Roadmap. In order to achieve these goals, we have set up the diversity circle, which now has 17 members from different nationalities and cultures. It drives in Currently, iIt realiszes 21 projects to continuously improve diversity, equity, equality and inclusion at Wintershall Dea.

At Wintershall Dea, employees in the same position earn the same regardless of their gender. In 2022, Wintershall Dea became the first energy company and the third company worldwide to receive the globally recognised EQUAL-SALARY certification. The certification was preceded by a year-long audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) proving that there is no gender pay gap at Wintershall Dea. In 2023, Wintershall Dea received a confirmation of the certification.

We acknowledge that the presence of our business has a direct and indirect impact on local communities. It brings us into contact with various interest groups. Knowing their needs and expectations is essential to our success, since they can influence decisions or project developments, the regulatory framework and our reputation through their actions. We provide comprehensive information on a regular basis on our activities, and are in contact with our stakeholders along the value chain.

Our mission is to understand the concerns and positions of the individual interest groups and build trust. The dialogue helps us to identify developments at an early stage and incorporate them into our strategic processes. We are deeply committed to avoiding harm, be it to people, the environment, or our facilities.

Through our activities, we help to reinforce sustainable development in the regions in which we operate. We support local communities through dedicated activities. Our mission is to be a responsible and reliable neighbour for environmental, educational, cultural and social projects. We provide economic and social added value by creating local jobs and, in dialogue with the local population, government and economy, support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We also support local communities through carefully selected projects. Our commitment focuses on the fields of education and science, culture and social affairs.