SAP's Approach to Sustainability
SAP's primary purpose is to help the world run better and improve people's lives with sustainability at its core.
SAP aspires to a world characterized by zero emissions, zero waste, and zero inequality. Our sustainability strategy is designed to foster positive economic, environmental, and social impacts, all while respecting the planet's limits. Key areas of SAP's sustainability approach include holistic management, ESG reporting, climate action, the circular economy, and social responsibility. SAP empowers organizations across 25 industries to operate with profitability while meeting their sustainability objectives. Through an extensive portfolio of ERP-integrated, sustainability-centric solutions, SAP emphasizes comprehensive management and reporting, climate initiatives, circular and regenerative business practices, and social accountability. Furthermore, SAP aids organizations in efficiently managing their resources—be it financial, material, or human—to promote an inclusive, regenerative, and low-carbon economy, ultimately steering towards a sustainable future within our planet's boundaries.
SAP has been globally recognized for its sustainability efforts. Some of the accolades include being named the software industry leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for 16 consecutive years, being recognized as a 2022 CDP Supplier Engagement Leader, and receiving a gold medal in Ecovadis' 2022 sustainability assessment.
SAP has been on our sustainability journey since 2009, releasing our first Integrated Report in 2012, measuring progress holistically by connecting financial with non-financial data. The Integrated Report offers a comprehensive view of the total value created, considering economic, social, and environmental impact.
SAP will be carbon neutral in our own operations this year, and we will be carbon neutral across our value chain – in Scope 3 emissions – by 2030.
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SAP believes sustainability is the business challenge of our generation and that the battle for net zero will be won or lost in Asia. As a region, Asia is responsible for 51% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. China, India, Japan, Indonesia, and South Korea account for 43% of global GHG emissions alone.
SAP believes sustainability is a matter of managing resources. Fifty years ago, SAP revolutionised financial accounting with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, helping businesses manage and optimise their resources, whether financial, human, supply chain, or more. Today SAP touches 77% of the world’s commerce data and SAP customers generate 87% of global commerce. Because of that deep reach into global business, SAP can help companies run more sustainably and scale sustainability outcomes. Now, we are reinventing the “R” in ERP by extending the definition of resources to include sustainability – including emissions, waste, and inequality.
Sustainability should not be considered separate to other organisational processes like finance or operations. It should be embedded at the very core of business, in every product, process, and practice. In fact, businesses should treat sustainability data in the same way they treat financial data. We believe businesses need an accounting system for their ESG data that is as auditable, transparent and reliable as their financial data accounting.
Combining financial and environmental decision-making at different points across the business process creates a green ledger, where auditable sustainability data are managed with the same accounting quality as corporate financial data. SAP helps customers drive both sustainable and financial outcomes in three ways:
o We help companies record and report on real sustainability data based on actuals, not averages.
o Businesses can then act on sustainability data it alongside financial data to make the right business decisions.
o Finally, we empower businesses to exchange real sustainability data across their value chain.
Country
Germany
Name of Organization
SAP
Further information
SAP Sustainability | Zero Emissions, Zero Waste & Zero Inequality
https://www.sap.com/sustainability/our-approach.html
Accelerating Asia’s Advantage: A Guide to Corporate Climate Action | World Economic Forum
https://www.weforum.org/whitepapers/accelerating-asia-s-advantage-a-guide-to-corporate-climate-action/
Sustainability – Moving toward a green ledger | SAP Sapphire News Guide 2023
https://www.sap.com/australia/events/sapphire/news-guide/sustainability.html