DHL Group is committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
As the world's leading logistics company, DHL Group has a special responsibility to contribute to the sustainability of our planet. As a longstanding partner of the United Nations, we strongly support the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and have made sustainability a cornerstone of our business strategy.
The UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the foundation of a global plan for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. They are an urgent call to action for us all to join forces in a global partnership - embodying a universal recognition that we must all take action today to make a lasting positive impact on tomorrow.
DHL Group is one of the world's largest employers, with a diverse team of more than half a million colleagues working across 220 countries and territories. That puts us in a unique position to make a significant contribution to these global goals. We are focusing on six of the UN SDGs because they reflect the areas in which we can make the greatest possible impact: Quality Education, Gender Equality, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Climate Action, and Partnerships for the Goals.
Our Group's journey to sustainability includes actions that support many aspects of these six SDGs. In our Sustainability Roadmap, we have made key commitments to run clean operations to protect the climate, provide a great company to work for all, and be a highly trusted company and partner. The programs and initiatives aimed at achieving these goals will improve access to quality education, empower women, promote equal opportunities, create jobs, enable economic growth, mitigate climate change, and foster collaboration and partnership.
At DHL Group, our purpose is Connecting People and Improving lives. That means the spirit of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals is also at the heart of everything we do. By pursuing our purpose every day, we make a significant contribution to prosperity and well-being by responsibly facilitating global trade and empowering people to make their lives and futures better.
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As one of the world's largest employers we rely on people. It is our employees that connect people and improve their lives. This is why a future-oriented and sustainable human resources development is key to ensuring our long-term business success. We provide lifelong development opportunities to our employees and training programs to potential future employees. And we provide vocational trainings to use with disabilities, as part of our inclusive and equitable quality education.
- HR planning and recruitment
- Employee engagement & development
- Vocational training programs
- Programs for students & graduates
- Scholarship program Upstairs
With our GoTeach program we are committed to improving educational opportunities and employability of young people. Our partnership with Teach For All aims to unleash young people's potential. The educational network, committed to addressing the worldwide problem of educational inequity, is driven by the idea that every child, regardless of their parents’ socio-economic status, should have access to quality education.
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Inequality between the sexes remains one of the greatest obstacles to equitable social and economic progress. As a global company and one of the world's largest employers, it is our responsibility to drive gender equality and take action to empower women and girls. With our business strategy, governance policies, and sustainability programs, we are committed to provide equal opportunities and support professional development of women.
In our Strategy 2025 and as part of our Sustainability Roadmap, we set a target to increase the share of women in upper and middle management to 30% by 2025. At the end of 2020, we reached a share of 23.2% women in management, 12.5% on the Board of Management and 35% on the Supervisory Board. Many processes and programs drive our steady progress, including recruitment and retention, talent management and development, networking, mentoring, and other initiatives to empower, motivate and develop female employees.
We actively promote an inclusive working environment and strictly oppose all forms of discrimination. In our Code of Conduct we explicitly reject any form of discrimination based on gender, ethnic and national origin, race, color, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation and identity, or any other characteristic protected by law. This stance is reinforced in our Corporate Diversity & Inclusion Statement.
Gender equality is also an inherent part of our Group-wide Go programs to foster the employability and economic inclusion of women and girls. Our GoTeach program, which aims to improve the employability of young people, ensures that boys and girls are equally represented in the activities. The program also offers gender-responsive activities to improve the employment prospects of young women in some countries. Our newest sustainability program, GoTrade, focuses specifically on female entrepreneurs. From the very beginning, the project has targeted a 50:50 gender balance in all SME development projects and will launch dedicated projects to boost competitiveness and trade for women entrepreneurs. We are also working with external partners to create economic ecosystems in which women entrepreneurs and producers can improve competitiveness and access international markets.
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Logistics is the backbone of economic development and prosperity. As a global logistics provider, we facilitate global trade to support economic growth. In doing so, we create jobs for our approximately 600,000 employees, and our partners and our suppliers. And in everything that we do, we follow our principles for a responsible business practice.
Our Supplier Code of ConductWe are one of the world’s largest employers and our employees are our company’s biggest asset. We act as a responsible employer based on our Code of Conduct. This includes protecting human rights, offering reasonable working conditions within the local context, and engaging our diverse employees.
Our Code of ConductAs a service provider we rely on people. We improve employability and career opportunities for young people within our company and externally through our GoTeach program. Through our strategic partnership with SOS Children's Villages we foster the empowerment and employability of young people from challenged socio-economic backgrounds.
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We are connecting people and improving lives. To provide a growing urban population with sustainable logistics, we are implementing clean first and last mile solutions, including the use of bicycles and e-mobility. We want to improve local quality of life by delivering 70% of our own first and last mile services with clean pick-up and delivery solutions by 2025.
Through our commitment as a corporate citizen, we contribute to sustainable communities. With GoHelp we focus on our disaster preparedness program Get Airports Ready for Disaster (GARD) and disaster response through our Disaster Response Teams (DRTs) and in cooperation with the United Nations. With our refugee aid initiative we commit to support refugees in Germany and around the globe.
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As the world’s largest logistics service provider we want to reduce all logistics-related emissions to net-zero by 2050. Thus, we contribute to achieving the Paris Climate Protection Agreement of reducing global warming to below 2°C, and we support the United Nation’s Agenda 2030. Our plan to turn this vision into reality includes four interim targets for 2025, reflecting our undefined:
- We want to increase our carbon efficiency by 50% over 2007 levels.
- We want to improve local quality of life by delivering 70% of our own first and last mile services with clean pick-up and delivery solutions.
- We want more than 50% of our sales to incorporate Green Solutions, making our customers’ supply chains greener.
- We want to have trained 80% of our employees to become certified GoGreen specialists and actively involve them in our environmental and climate protection activities. This includes joining partners to plant one million trees each year.
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Entering new and fostering existing strategic partnerships is one of DHL Group’s core strategic pillars when it comes to tackling global challenges. As a longstanding partner of the UN, DHL Group strongly supports the SDGs. We have been a signatory to the UN Global Compact since 2006. With our CR programs we build on trusted and global partners, such as UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for our GoHelp activities.
Beyond that Group relies on an open dialog with our internal and external stakeholders to ensure a responsible and sustainable business. The exchange that ensues from these alliances has a significant impact on the success of our efforts in the area of corporate responsibility. And we build on the social commitment through global volunteering of our employees. By helping solve problems in their local communities, they not only make a contribution to society, but create a sense of community and teamwork that carries over into the workplace.