In our sustainability reporting, we comply with the 2016 GRI Standards version of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines including the most recent updates from 2018, 2019 and 2020.

We prepare our Sustainability Report in accordance with the “Comprehensive” reporting option of the GRI standards and thus fully account for all material topics. As an active member of the Global Compact, we adhere to its universal principles for responsible corporate management as well as to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. We actively contribute to achieving the SDGs along our value chains, from the generation of raw materials and product development to customer relationships.

Our sustainable efforts occur on three key levels: responsible sourcing; climate protection and emission reduction; and responsible use of raw materials. Because we have significant influence over these three areas and thus bear particular responsibility for them, they are the focus of this chapter. Sustainable partnerships and dialogue with our stakeholders are a main starting point and a motivation for us. With this in mind, the following pages present several of our internal and external partners and their perspectives on our key topics.

We have integrated all other quantitative and qualitative information on sustainability at Symrise, our strategic approach, and the management concepts associated with our key topics into our Sustainability Record in line with GRI. We thus fulfill the requirements of the German CSR Directive Implementation Act (CSR-RUG) in accordance with Section 289b (3) of the German Commercial Code (HGB). All information has been externally audited in accordance with the AA1000 Assurance Standard.