Sustainability strategy

Not audited

For us, acting sustainably means striking a balance between economic performance, social commitment and responsibility for the environment. By considering the three dimensions ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL and GOVERNANCE in an integrated manner, we develop a holistic understanding of opportunities, risks and interdependencies and have defined eight fields of action within these pillars. Each field of action is underpinned by clearly defined targets; we drive necessary transformation and actively contribute to progress.

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an additional framework for global sustainable development. We contribute to their achievement and focus our activities on ten selected SDGs that are particularly relevant to our business. In addition, we align ourselves with recognized external initiatives and frameworks: in 2022, we signed the UN Global Compact and committed to integrating its ten principles into our strategy, corporate culture and day-to-day business operations.

Sustainability is an integral component of our corporate strategy and permeates all processes, functions and responsibilities. We follow a principle of continuous improvement and regularly measure progress against our targets. We systematically evaluate the insights gained while remaining open to external input and sector-specific developments. The experience gained over recent years confirms the effectiveness of our strategy. This success, together with increasing expectations from customers, employees and regulators, encourages us to continue pursuing our chosen path.

Our fields of action

Values, guidelines and management systems

Our corporate values of “integrity, determination, dynamism, passion and collaboration” form the foundation of our corporate culture and serve as guiding principles for our sustainability management. Our set of guidelines unites the legal and ethical standards that we are committed to upholding. It provides employees with guidance in their day-to-day work, and makes it clear to partners and suppliers what our expectations are regarding collaboration and business relationships. In addition, our compliance system ensures adherence to all relevant laws and fundamental principles; further details can be found in the chapter G1-Governance.

Our sustainability strategy is supported by established and largely certified management systems in the areas of quality management, environmental management, energy management and occupational health and safety management. We have also implemented a compliance management system. Detailed information on the individual systems is provided in the relevant sections of this report.

Rankings and awards

BLG Handelslogistik GmbH & Co. KG is a member of the Advisory Board of the Lean & Green not-for-profit initiative, and we won the Lean & Green Award back in 2015, with the 1^st Star following in 2021. Thanks to our consistent CO₂ reductions, we were awarded the Lean & Green 2nd Star in 2025. To ensure an objective assessment of our sustainability performance, we undergo regular external evaluations. In the reporting year, this again included responding to the EcoVadis questionnaire. Compared with the previous year, we improved both our overall score and our percentile ranking, and were once again awarded a bronze medal (link: recognition.ecovadis.com/rRMjCAnplESRQ9u1a1DVSQ). In the reporting year, we also submitted our emissions data to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) for the fifth time, achieving a “C” rating for our efforts in the climate area.

Strategy, business model and value chain (SBM-1)

Information on our corporate strategy, business model and value chain can be found in the chapter Fundamentals.

Interests and views of stakeholders (SBM-2)

When formulating the direction and the goals of our sustainability management, we take the perspectives and interests of our stakeholders into account. This includes all persons or groups that are directly or indirectly affected by our business, both now and in the future. We regularly exchange information with many stakeholders, giving special priority to our customers’ interests. We communicate with them closely and fairly – all the more so if we support them directly at our branches or operate on their premises. During the development of new logistics locations or joint large-scale projects, this cooperation intensifies even more, giving us focused, valuable feedback.

Our employees’ expectations are of equal importance to us, which is why we incorporate them into our decisions. The dialog formats described in the table, as well as personal exchanges among colleagues and with managers, play a central role here. In the area of sustainability, we survey the people at BLG LOGISTICS annually about employee mobility – reducing the associated emissions is part of our climate protection strategy. We are in constant communication with the City of Bremen, our largest shareholder. We provide information, participate in exchanges and support the Bremen climate protection goals through our own commitment and our ambitious climate objectives.

Memberships

Our participation in the Überseehafen Round Table, which is organized by bremenports and led by the Senator for Economic Affairs, Ports and Transformation, also underlines our commitment. As a member of the steering group, we are working with the participating companies to achieve the goal of ensuring a permanently resilient energy supply at Bremerhaven international port, while also making the site CO₂-neutral. We reach additional stakeholders through tailored formats (see table above). In addition, we benefit from the fact that virtually all significant stakeholders have a seat on the Supervisory Board, with representatives from business, banking, the workforce, trade unions and the public sector.

We believe that the transformation to a sustainable economy can only be achieved by working together. Accordingly, we collaborate within associations and expert bodies with partners, institutions and even competitors to address current challenges systematically. During the reporting year, our Chief Executive Officer, Matthias Magnor, was a member of the Executive Committee of the Central Association of German Seaport Operators (ZDS), which constitutes a central link between the port industry and policymakers. Since 2025, he has also served as Treasurer of the German Transport Forum (DVF) and as a member of the Board of the German Logistics Association (BVL). We are also involved in the BVL “Nachhaltig gestalten” [“Acting sustainably”] group and are a member of the steering group for the “Sustainable Heavy Goods Transport” taskforce at the German Energy Agency (dena). This platform aims to reduce emissions in heavy goods transport, support the energy transition, and promote long-term planning and investment security. In the reporting year, several publications were issued on the decarbonization of heavy goods transport in Germany, including a dossier on challenges and solutions for the expansion of charging infrastructure for e-trucks, in addition to a fact sheet on the opportunities and risks of HVO100 in heavy goods transport. As a long-standing member of the Association of European Vehicle Logistics (ECG), we represent the interests of the finished vehicle logistics industry in Europe. The ECG, and in particular its ECG Academy training program, serves as an important platform for professional exchange within the sector.

Interaction of material impacts, risks and opportunities with strategy and business model, and financial effects (SBM-3)

The material impacts, risks and opportunities (IROs) identified in the materiality assessment arise directly from our business model as a logistics service provider. In particular, climate-related risks, regulatory developments and customer requirements for low-emission transport and logistics solutions influence the strategic development of our service portfolio and are assessed as relevant to the business over the long term.

The identified material topics are considered in strategic planning and incorporated into investment decisions. Sustainability-related risks are integrated into existing corporate management and risk management processes and are reviewed on a regular basis. A systematic linkage to strategic planning is established in particular through quarterly reporting on sustainability metrics, and through the Board of Management’s involvement in management of the defined targets.

Detailed information on our risk management can be found in the chapter Opportunity and risk report.

Process to identify and assess material impacts, risks and opportunities, as well as information to be reported (IRO-1)

BLG LOGISTICS’ materiality assessment is based on the principle of double materiality and considers both the impact materiality (inside-out) and financial materiality (outside-in) perspectives. Impact materiality assesses the positive and negative impacts of our business activities on people and the environment. Financial materiality examines the sustainability-related risks and opportunities that arise for BLG LOGISTICS as a company. A topic is considered material if it is assessed as such under at least one of these two perspectives.

Perspectives of the double materiality assessment

The materiality assessment process is structured into three sequential steps: long list, mid list and short list. In the first step, a comprehensive long list of potentially material sustainability topics was compiled, taking into account relevant standards. Following an initial, reasoned exclusion of certain topics by the sustainability team, the long list was condensed into a mid list. In the subsequent step, potential and actual impacts, risks and opportunities (IROs) were identified and assessed along the upstream and downstream value chain. The identification process took place in individual workshops involving the sustainability team and the responsible specialist departments, and was supported by additional desk research. The close involvement of specialist departments ensured that, in addition to technical expertise, the perspectives of relevant stakeholders, including employees, suppliers, customers, shareholders, financial market participants and public authorities, were adequately considered.

Process flow of our double materiality assessment

The IROs were assessed using a scale based on the assessment criteria of risk management. Impacts were assessed based on scale, scope, irremediability (for negative impacts) and, in the case of potential impacts, likelihood of occurance. Scale, scope and irremediability jointly determine the overall severity of an impact. For potential negative impacts on human rights, the severity takes precedence over the likelihood. Risks and opportunities were assessed based on scale and likelihood of occurrence. The evaluation of impacts, risks and opportunities was conducted by the sustainability team and, where required, with the involvement of additional specialist departments and the risk management team.

Based on defined thresholds, it was then determined which IROs are to be classified as material. This was used to draw up the short list of material IROs and the corresponding material sustainability topics. The results of the double materiality assessment were validated by the Sustainability Board and presented to the entire Board of Management. Identified sustainability-related risks and opportunities were subsequently transferred to Group Risk Management for further processing.

Material impacts, risks and opportunities and disclosure requirements included in the Sustainability Statement (IRO-2)

The following table provides an overview of BLG LOGISTICS’ material impacts, risks and opportunities, including their location in our own business activities or along the upstream and downstream value chain.

Since we are publishing a double materiality assessment in accordance with ESRS for the first time this year, there are no changes in the material impacts, risks and opportunities compared to the previous year. Going forward, we will review and update our double materiality assessment on a regular basis.

An overview of the disclosure requirements included in the non-financial statement, as well as a list of data points derived from other EU legislation, can be found in the chapter Other content.