Compliance, data protection, diversity and paper – in the opinion of its employees and external stakeholders, Bertelsmann bears responsibility for these and other issues. The Corporate Responsibility Report shows how the company meets these expectations.

Since 2008, Bertelsmann has regularly calculated its Group-wide Carbon Footprint and gathered other data on energy, paper, water, wastewater and waste. To do this, each year the Corporate Center collects, analyzes and aggregates the environmental data of the companies and sites of the divisions from all around the world. The results of the Carbon Footprint not only create transparency about impacts on the environment and climate, as well as on Bertelsmann’s environmental performance, but also enables the management to derive measures for improvement.

The Bertelsmann Code of Conduct is also our guideline for legally compliant and ethical conduct within the company, toward business partners and the public, which is binding for every employee worldwide.

The Bertelsmann Essentials convey the goals and basic values of our company’s employees, executives and shareholders and build on the Corporate Constitution. It is the responsibility of our executives to spread and epitomize these values and to serve as role models. The Bertelsmann Essentials reflect the common understanding of our corporate culture and are subject to constant review, revision and improvement.