Climate and Environmental Protection

As a media company, ProSiebenSat.1 does not count among the energy-intensive manufacturing industries that use a lot of resources and have complex, global supply chains. For this reason, we have not identified any financial consequences of climate change for our business activities at present. Nonetheless, we also see climate and environmental factors as material for our stakeholders both universally and in connection with our value creation. We are helping to slow down climate change and conserve our environment by taking care in the way we use resources and reducing our energy consumption and CO₂ emissions through targeted measures. In 2012, we switched the power supply at our headquarters in Unterföhring near Munich to green electricity. The climate and environmental protection measures are complemented by our involvement in the field of ecology. Thanks to our wide reach among TV viewers and internet users, we can shift focus onto climate and environmental issues and thus raise awareness of the sustainable use of resources.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

In the fourth quarter of 2015, ProSiebenSat.1 laid the foundation for Group-wide climate and environmental reporting. In the first half of 2016, we calculated our Group’s carbon footprint for the first time and implemented standardized processes based on recognized reporting standards. When calculating the carbon footprint, we were guided by the criteria and definitions of the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (G4) of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The data were collected on the basis of internal guidelines. In addition, we aligned the calculation of our carbon footprint and selected data on indirect CO₂ emissions (Scope 3) to the following standards: The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) ProtocolCorporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, the Corporate Value Chain Accounting and Reporting Protocol of the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). All of ProSiebenSat.1 Group’s own sites and employees were included in the carbon footprint.

These figures were subjected to an independent audit with limited assurance by KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft on the basis of the ISAE 3000 and ISAE 3410 standards relevant to such audits.

We see improving the quality of our carbon footprint at all levels of the organization as an ongoing process in order to guarantee comprehensive and open communication and to meet the requirements of our stakeholders. ProSiebenSat.1 is working continuously on integrating all sources of greenhouse gas emissions into the data collection. In the future, we will strive to increase the coverage of measured activity data in order to improve the accuracy of the reported carbon footprint. For internal purposes, this allows the monitoring of environmental performance at different levels and the comparison and benchmarking of individual areas of ProSiebenSat.1 Group with competitors.

Energy Consumption

The efficient consumption of energy saves the Company costs and lowers greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, we rely on an environmentally friendly energy supply with a beneficial eco-balance. ProSiebenSat.1’s energy consumption involves mostly the purchase of electricity and heat. The Company converted its power supply at the Unterföhring location to entirely renewable energy in 2012 and covers 100 % of its electricity requirement with hydropower. In 2015, we purchased around 60,000 kWh less electricity thanks to measures such as the conversion to LED lighting and the modernization of the transformer technology. The total consumption of electricity at Group headquarters in Unterföhring was around 16 GWh in 2015.

Geothermal heat supply is also part of ProSiebenSat.1’s supply concept, which is designed to be safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly. Likewise since 2012, the Group has used geothermal heat for several properties at the Unterföhring site. Three buildings were added to the campus in 2015 and have since been supplied with heat from the operator of the local geothermal plant. The buildings, which house offices and a large cafeteria, were equipped with six transfer stations. Their connected load totals 2.6 megawatts.

Since the summer of 2015, two office buildings used by ProSiebenSat.1 in Unterföhring have also been air-conditioned in an environmentally friendly manner using geothermal heat. This innovative cooling system is made possible by an absorption refrigerator, which drives the cooling process using thermal energy and a solution of water and the salt lithium bromide. The absorption refrigerator replaced the previous air-conditioning system, which ran on electricity. It has a refrigerating capacity of 200 kilowatts and cools around 4,500 square meters of office space.

In total, ProSiebenSat.1’s energy consumption for heating and cooling in Unterföhring amounted to around 15 GWh in 2015. The main sources of energy were district heating, geothermal energy, and natural gas.

ProSiebenSat.1 conducted an energy audit according to DIN EN 16247-1 in a timely manner in 2015 and completed it for all Group companies on the campus in Unterföhring in December. On the basis of the audit results, we will consider measures to further optimize the operating energy supply systems technically, economically, and ecologically.

Mobility

In the first half of 2016, we incorporated electric vehicles into our fleet and set up e-charging stations on the ProSiebenSat.1 campus. The Group also negotiated master agreements with car-sharing providers. This gives our employees the opportunity to register free-of-charge for the environmentally friendly alternative to driving their own cars and to use this service for both business trips and private journeys. Our guidelines for business travel urge ProSiebenSat.1 employees not to fly short distances and to use more environmentally friendly alternatives such as trains instead. Long-distance rail travel undertaken by our employees with Deutsche Bahn uses green power from renewable energy sources, so their travel is 100 % carbon neutral.

The commuting habits of ProSiebenSat.1 employees also have a significant influence on our carbon footprint. The first “Employee Commuting” survey in March 2016 met with great interest; around 1,000 employees took part in the survey at the Unterföhring site. On average, an employee of ProSiebenSat.1 Group travels around 8,500 km per year on the way to and from work. More than half of the workforce makes use of public transport as an environmentally friendly alternative. ProSiebenSat.1 has concluded an agreement with Münchner Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund (MVV) for reduced-price “job tickets”. ProSiebenSat.1 also offers an incentive for the most environmentally friendly way to travel to work: The company bicycle concept “JobRad” offers employees the opportunity to lease a bicycle at special conditions under ProSiebenSat.1 Group’s compensation & benefits program and to keep it after the end of the lease period.