OUR SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY

Sustainability is enshrined in our strategy planning tool, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), as a standalone topic. The following principles encompass our future vision for 2030:

  • We will fulfil statutory sustainability requirements and create added value for society, focusing on people and their needs.
  • A materiality analysis will be embedded in our organisation as a tool enabling identification of the most powerful levers from which targets and actions can be derived.
  • In a spirit of partnership, local communities will be actively integrated into the development of sustainability projects.
  • Our Sustainability Action Plan is already active,  forms a part of our training programme, and is understood and deployed in everyday practice by all our employees.
  • Our company serves as a role model, inspiring our staff, customers and visitors in their personal lives.
  • Our path to decarbonisation is clear based on our greenhouse gas audit (GHG audit), and we are on course towards climate neutrality.
  • Sustainability in all its dimensions is integrated into our strategy and will secure our competitiveness going forward.
  • In line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we are making our own contribution to sustainable development, in cooperation with our partners.

Targeting a circular economy, we ensure mindful and sustainable use of both material and non-material resources.

FUTURE REPORTING

MAKING SUSTAINABILITY MEASURABLE

Sustainability requires transparency and clear objectives. That is why, in 2024, we initiated development of comprehensive sustainability reporting in line with EU Directives (including the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive).

Our 2025 goals:

  • Publication of a comprehensive sustainability report informed by developments at EU level
  • Scaling up of our greenhouse gas audit (GAG audit) to include scope 3 emissions
  • Conduct of climate risk analyses
  • Implementation of projects on sustainable mobility, heat protection and biodiversity

Setting up sustainability reporting 
(Processes and structures for sustainability reporting)

A sustainability unit has been set up within the Schönbrunn Group. At present, this unit is primarily focused on creating the structures required to enable compliance with our legal obligations. Going forward, we are mandated to prepare a "sustainability report", and the sustainability unit will support us in implementing the necessary measures. This preparatory process is very complex and is currently placing the most demands on our resources. 

Did you know? Reporting requirements under the CSRD (EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive)

An EU Directive, aimed at elevating sustainability reporting across the EU and embedding sustainability reporting in business (part of the EU Green Deal, which aims for EU climate neutrality by 2050)

• Standardisation and improvement of sustainability reporting

• Access to non-financial information for interest groups

• Improved comparability and transparency

• On a level with financial reporting (part of a company's management report) → will be subject to formal audit

The Directive: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2022/2464/oj 


The EU defines enterprise sizes as micro, small, medium-sized and large. 
Since the Schönbrunn Group fulfils the definition of a large company, it is mandated to report from 2026 for the year 2025. The EU Commission is currently considering a Proposal to make changes to this and related Directives and reporting thresholds. Once the new Directives come into force, our projects will be calibrated accordingly.


Subproject: Greenhouse gas audit 

To identify targeted reduction measures for the future, a greenhouse gas audit (GHG audit) was undertaken for 2023. Going forward, this will be produced annually, with ongoing expansion and improvement of data collection.

Awards

We are convinced that sustainability and social justice in society form the bedrock of long-term economic success. For this reason, we are laser-focused on working with our customers and guests to make events at our venues - the Apothekertrakt and the Orangery - as eco-friendly as possible.

To heighten the visibility of our efforts, we decided to seek certification of our two event venues, the Apothekertrakt and the Orangery, as Green Locations. In so doing, we are fulfilling the many rigorous requirements of the Austrian Ecolabel, a government award for environmentally-conscious event locations.

Through this certification, we aim to boost partnerships and promote green events.

Website Events and Hospitality
More info: https://www.umweltzeichen.at/en/about-us/start


Logo of Oeko Business Vienna

The Schönbrunn Group has been OekoWin-certified since 2002. The basic idea behind OekoWin is the harmonisation of environmental benefit and economic profit. 
OekoWin focuses on water, mixed solid waste, hazardous waste, solvent emissions, electricity, natural gas, heating and process heat. Environmental data is collected and analysed at workshops and individual consultations, potential savings are uncovered, and improvement measures then devised, evaluated and implemented.


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