KfW Group: Sustainability Report 2015 published

• Sustainability a priority business goal
• Effects of funding on sustainability continuously reviewed
• 2014: EUR 26.6 billion for financing in the climate and environmental protection segment - KfW one of the world's biggest financiers

KfW today published its 2015 Sustainability Report under the title "Responsibility that has an impact". It documents KfW's achievements and effects over the 2012-2014 period. The report was compiled in accordance with the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), version 4 (G4), and it meets the demanding "comprehensive" application level.

As one of the world's leading promotional banks, KfW has been committed since its inception to the concept of sustainable development. The current Sustainability Report demonstrates that this is being implemented within KfW as a company in its financing and promotional business.

"We believe entrepreneurial action and social responsibility go hand in hand. Our financing activities support sustainable development in order to improve economic, ecological and social living conditions on a local, national, European and global level. For us, sustainability also means – in particular – developing sustainable, self-supporting economic structures", explained Dr Ulrich Schröder, Chief Executive Officer of KfW Group.

In accordance with its promotional mandate, KfW's financing and promotional activities make it possible to implement solutions for global challenges such as climate change, demographic change and globalisation. Through their leveraging model, promotional banks are setting the direction of travel. To make best possible use of this leverage, KfW works in a results-oriented fashion: the success of projects funded is systematically assessed, background conditions are analysed and funding programmes adjusted where necessary. Profits are always channelled back into the promotional activities.

Milestones in the reporting period:

1. As part of a materiality analysis, KfW examined its promotional business and operations in relation to themes that make a key contribution to sustainable development and are socially and strategically relevant.

2. With new commitments of EUR 26.6 billion, KfW invested roughly 36% of its total promotional business volume in climate and environmental protection in 2014. This makes KfW one of the world's largest financers in this field.

3. Independent sustainability rating agencies consider the bank's long-term position as first-class. KfW has kept its place among the best of its peers with regard to sustainability ratings.

4. The mission statement, reformulated in 2014, commits our employees to the values of responsibility, fairness, professionalism, initiative, and transparency. The mission statement serves as a framework of values for our day-to-day interactions with customers, colleagues, shareholders and society.

5. KfW's Gender Balance programme received the German HR Award (Personalwirtschaftspreis) in 2013. This has the aim of establishing a group-wide culture of gender-aware leadership and cooperation – and also increasing the proportion of women in management positions. In 2014 the percentage of women in management increased to 29.9%.

6. US finance magazine Global Finance declared KfW the “World's Safest Bank” in October 2014 – for the sixth time in a row. The magazine's rating is based on evaluations of long-term credit ratings from Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch as well as the total assets of the banks.

7. In expanding the compliance structure, consideration was given to the increasing legal requirements that KfW is subject to. There has been a central department for Compliance since 2013. It ensures that all legal requirements are met and relevant trends are identified at an early stage.

8. In-house environmental protection: KfW draws the electricity required for its own buildings from renewable sources only, and focuses on maximum efficiency in its business operations. The bank has been climate-neutral since 2006. Unavoidable in-house CO2 emissions are compensated for by retiring certified emission reduction (CER) certificates.

The current Sustainability Report is the first to be available as an interactive online report at:

www.nachhaltigkeit2015.kfw.de