Transparency requirements relating to ESG topics are evolving through regulation and the expectations of various stakeholder groups. These include the EU Taxonomy and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), where applicable to companies.
Eintracht Frankfurt have recognised this relevance. In 2021, an industry-specific ESG tool and rating system was developed to assess the ESG aspects of business activities. The external assessment is carried out by SustainGoals. Along the known ESG dimensions (Environment, Social, Governance), 25 fields of action are examined. The insights gained from the data collected help to optimise corporate activities and measure progress.
CORNERSTONES AND OBJECTIVES OF THE APPROACH
The ESG tool is used to digitally collect and assess the criteria defined in the ESG framework. This is a specific rating system that was tailored for the sports and entertainment industry.
The ESG framework developed for the sports and entertainment industry comprises more than 300 criteria across 25 areas of action. As part of the rating, the external provider SustainGoals assesses the information and supporting evidence provided by Eintracht Frankfurt in accordance with its defined assessment methodology. The catalogue of criteria takes into account industry-specific requirements, including selected DFL licensing criteria, and is guided by selected sustainability reporting frameworks such as the SBTi and CSRD.
Eintracht Frankfurt are already using the tool to identify where action is needed across all areas and define concrete measures for improvement, and would like to make these available transparently in the future.
CEO Axel Hellmann says: "We're convinced that our innovative, data-driven approach is crucial to the successful implementation of our sustainability strategy. Involving all departments was one of the fundamental goals from the very beginning. Together with DeKoBe ESG and ESG Book, we were able to fully implement this and put the topic of ESG on a new footing."
PARTIES INVOLVED AND TASKS
SustainGoals
- Provider of the ESG tool and external partner in the assessment process
- Responsible for the technical implementation and ongoing development of the ESG tool used internally to collect the criteria defined in the ESG framework
- External, independent evaluation and disclosure of all sustainability statistics
