SAP chose sustainability as a long-term strategy in 2009. Since this commitment, SAP has lived up to being a good example by making its own operations and processes more sustainable and resilient. SAP pledged to achieve net zero along its value chain in line with a 1.5°C future by 2030 – 20 years earlier than the original target of 2050.
On the Journey to Net Zero by 2030, Daniel Schmid, SAP’s chief sustainability officer, said, “Through our journey to net zero 2030, we at SAP strive to be clear about what being net zero means to us and to be transparent about what actions we are taking to get there. Until now, we have been focusing on our operations and achieved major milestones, which is terrific. However, the challenge becomes much greater when we consider becoming net zero across our entire value chain, including suppliers and customers. We will address this challenge by accelerating our customers’ journey to the cloud, using best-in-class data centers, getting suppliers to deliver carbon-neutral products and services, changing our fleet to become emission-free, and investing in renewable electricity and nature-based solutions. We are 100% committed to achieving our goal. It’s a journey all of us at SAP will help deliver.”
Likewise, SAP is paving the way to a sustainable world. SAP Sustainability solutions aim to help our customers record, report, and act on their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ambitions while incorporating sustainability in their businesses.
At SAP, there is a sustainable business strategy. Sustainable business means focusing on and improving social and economic performance. Therefore, these three global goals are reflected in SAP’s strategic focus areas: holistic steering and reporting, climate action, circular economy, and social responsibility. SAP is committed to ensuring digital technologies help companies manage and improve their business processes along their entire value chain and embed sustainability into their business models.
Today, the link between sustainability and profitability is clear. Companies are embedding sustainability and regulatory-complaint KPIs into their core financials. One clear example is the need for a carbon accounting system that mirrors their financial accounting system. Disclosing sustainability progress allows business leaders to act on waste management, deforestation, and social responsibility.
Selected Rankings and Ratings
CDP | Learn More
In addition to an A- in CDP’s last climate change assessment, SAP has been recognized by CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) as a 2022 CDP Supplier Engagement Leader. CDP’s annual Supplier Engagement Rating assesses companies on their performance on governance, targets, ambition, and Scope 3 emissions. SAP was also recognized as a CDP Supplier Engagement Leader in 2020 and 2021. This recognition for the third consecutive year acknowledges SAP’s commitment to raising the level of climate action across its value chain and to measure and reduce climate risk within its supply chain.
Corporate Sustainability Assessment by S&P (Dow Jones Sustainability Indices) | Learn More
S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) is an annual evaluation of companies’ sustainability practices. It covers over 7,000 companies from around the world. The CSA focuses on sustainability criteria that’s both industry-specific and financially material. As of January 1, 2023, SAP maintained industry leadership as one of two companies in the software industry in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment for the 16th consecutive year, scoring 80 out of 100. This placed SAP in the top 1% of S&P’s ESG scores and qualified us as a Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) constituent.
MSCI | Learn More
MSCI ESG Ratings aim to measure a company’s management of financially relevant ESG risks and opportunities using the rules-based methodology to identify industry leaders and laggards according to their exposure to ESG risks and how well they manage those risks relative to their peers. SAP upholds the highest rating of AAA and is an ESG leader in human capital development, corporate governance, privacy and data security, and clean tech as of the last assessment in April 2023. The MSCI ESG Ratings are also used to construct the MSCI ESG Indexes produced by MSCI, Inc.
FTSE4Good | Learn More
Administered by the Financial Times Stock Exchange-Russell Group (FTSE), the FTSE4Good Index Series measures the performance of companies demonstrating strong ESG practices. Transparent management and clearly defined ESG criteria make FTSE4Good indices suitable tools to be used by a wide variety of market participants when creating or assessing sustainable investment products. With an ESG score of 4.1 out of 5, SAP is in the top 9% of analyzed companies – based on assessment questions in areas such as environment, climate change, human rights, community and labor standards, tax transparency, and anti-corruption. Due to its good scoring, SAP remains a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index Series following the June 2022 review.
Sustainalytics | Learn More
As of October 2022, SAP received an ESG Risk Rating of 10.9 from Sustainalytics and was assessed to be at low risk of experiencing material financial impacts from ESG factors. Founded in 1992, Sustainalytics, a Morningstar company, provides analytical ESG research, ratings, and data to institutional investors and companies.
EcoVadis | Learn More
In the last sustainability assessment of EcoVadis in December 2022, SAP was awarded a gold medal again with a score of 74 of 100, ranked in the 98th percentile of all companies scored, meaning SAP’s score is higher than or equal to the score of 98% of all companies rated by EcoVadis. With more than 100,000 rated companies, EcoVadis is one of the world’s most trusted business sustainability rating providers. Its assessment covers a broad range of non-financial management systems, including environments, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement impacts.
ISS ESG | Learn More
The Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ESG Corporate Rating assesses companies’ sustainability performance based on high-quality and in-depth research and up to 100 sector-specific rating criteria that’s regularly reviewed and developed. With its B rating, SAP has been acknowledged with prime status and is among the top deciles. The score was confirmed in January 2023.
Corporate Knights | Learn More
SAP ranked 41st in the 19th annual ranking of Corporate Knights’ 2023 100 most sustainable corporations in the world. This award has a special significance as Global 100 companies represent the top 1% in the world for sustainability performance. To determine the ranking, the Toronto-based media, research, and financial information products company analyzed over 6,000 companies with more than US$1 billion in revenues against 25 key performance indicators. “Global 100 companies are providing the products and services needed for the sustainability transition, and that will form the basis of the emerging 21st-century economy,” says Ralph Torrie, director of Research at Corporate Knights.
Moody’s ESG Solution | Learn More
In the last assessment in January 2022, SAP maintained the highest of four performance levels (“advanced”) and ranked second of 83 in its sector, acknowledging its strength in managing material ESG factors, mitigating risks, and creating sustainable value. Due to its good performance, SAP remained a constituent in the Euronext Vigeo Eiris indices Europe120 and Eurozone120. These indices are composed of the highest-ranking listed companies according to their evaluation of companies’ ESG performance based on 38 criteria, including industry weightings and monitoring of company-related ESG controversies.
