Materiality Analysis

The last extensive review of our materiality analysis was in 2018. This comprised asking our stakeholders about the most important sustainability issues for Evonik. A distinction was made between stakeholders with direct and indirect influence. The participants at our stakeholder dialogues formed the basis for our survey.

In addition, we asked internal experts, employee representatives, and specialists from the Evonik regions for their opinions. Particular attention was paid to both positive and negative impacts of Evonik’s business activities along the value chain.

The top 3 topics are:

• sustainable products/solutions for our customers,
• climate change, and
• efficient use of scarce resources/circular economy.

These were the focus of our work in 2020. This is reflected directly in our targets to reduce scope 1, 2, and 3 CO₂ emissions, which are an important part of our Sustainability Strategy 2020+. In addition, it is reflected by our new energy target and our increased activities relating to the circular economy.
In 2020, we reviewed the material sustainability topics for Evonik via a media and peer group analysis. The topics we identified in this analysis were the same as those identified in our materiality analysis in 2018. We intend to conduct an extensive update of our materiality analysis roughly every three years. In the meantime, we are driving forward the topics already identified.