Sustainability at Vonovia

Our Sustainability Strategy

Due to the high social relevance of housing and the need to adapt to climate change, all dimensions of sustainability are an integral part of Vonovia’s business model. Housing is not an ordinary product—it means providing our customers with a home. This entails a particular responsibility toward shareholders, customers, and society as a whole. Vonovia actively embraces this responsibility, for example through its commitment to climate protection in its existing portfolio, the expansion of age-appropriate housing, the promotion of community life in neighborhoods, and the construction of new housing to meet urgent demand.

Sustainability is therefore a core component of Vonovia’s corporate strategy and direction. As part of its sustainability strategy, Vonovia pursues specific objectives across the three areas of Environmental (E), Social (S), and Governance (G):

In the Environmental dimension, Vonovia aims to ensure the long-term viability of its business model by leveraging sustainable new construction and modernization, as well as CO₂ reduction in its existing portfolio through 2045, in order to meet current climate targets. Innovations and new technologies are intended to contribute to achieving a climate-neutral housing stock.

In the Social dimension, Vonovia assumes responsibility toward customers and society by providing affordable and needs-based housing, as well as by promoting sustainable neighborhood development. At the same time, Vonovia fosters diversity, inclusion, professional development opportunities, and work–life balance in order to strengthen employee satisfaction and position itself as an attractive employer.

In the Governance dimension, Vonovia pursues the goal of sustainable corporate management and responsible business practices supported by reliable compliance. These objectives have a positive impact on the working environment and meet the expectations of the capital market.

Vonovia’s business model addresses key socio-political challenges such as housing shortages, affordable housing, and climate protection, and its sustainability objectives make a significant contribution to tackling these issues.

Sustainability Management at Vonovia

In recent years, we have made significant progress in embedding sustainability into the company’s business processes. We actively manage sustainability through our non-financial performance indicator, the Sustainability Performance Index (SPI), which links our sustainability strategy to clearly defined, remuneration-relevant targets for the Management Board and top management (the first level below the Management Board). The index consists of six sub-indicators aligned with Vonovia’s key sustainability priorities:

Embedding sustainability within the organization

At Vonovia, sustainability is a top priority at the management level. The Chief Executive Officer is responsible for sustainability at Vonovia. On the Supervisory Board side, the Strategy, Finance and Sustainability Committee assumes oversight responsibility, while the Audit Committee is responsible for sustainability reporting.

Vonovia has embedded sustainability, strategy, and corporate development within a single organizational unit. This unit is responsible for advancing sustainability topics in line with the corporate strategy, coordinating related activities, and reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer.

Its core tasks include, in particular, the further development of the sustainability strategy, the derivation and monitoring of sustainability targets, as well as initiating and implementing sustainability projects. It is also responsible for sustainability reporting, which includes the sustainability disclosures in the annual report, the preparation of the ESG Factbook, and the management of numerous ESG ratings.

A Sustainability Committee meets two to three times a year, to advise on strategic direction and assess sustainability performance. The committee comprises the entire Management Board, supplemented by those responsible for Sustainability, Corporate Communications, Controlling, Accounting, and Investor Relations. This ensures that decisions related to the implementation of our sustainability strategy are supported by all relevant functions and carried through to the operational level.

The operational implementation of sustainability aspects takes place across all relevant departments and regions, extending into our local neighborhoods. Sustainable principles are an integral part of every employee’s mindset. In this way, we develop future-proof living environments in close partnership with our customers and for the cities, municipalities, and regions in which we operate.

In Austria and Sweden, sustainability coordination is integrated within the staff functions. These units coordinate collaboration between the central Sustainability function and the respective countries, as well as country-specific sustainability activities of the Austrian BUWOG companies and the Swedish Victoriahem.