Preface
Dear Readers
The past financial year was a year of transformation and focusing for Arbonia. With the sale of the Climate Division, our focus is now fully on the doors business, which allows us to bundle our strengths in a more targeted manner. We produce our innovative and durable wood and glass solutions as resource-efficiently as possible and taking into account ecological aspects. With our activities in the emission-intensive building sector, we want to actively contribute to more environmentally friendly construction and living through the targeted use of wood and its ability to store CO2 during its use phase, among other things. At the same time, we are continually working on orienting our processes even more strongly to increased efficiency and conserving natural resources.
Sustainability is not only anchored in our products but also forms the basis for Arbonia’s business activities. In the past year, we joined the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and committed ourselves to short- and long-term emission reductions in line with the net zero standard of the SBTi. It helps us that we recorded our Scope 3 emissions in detail for the first time in 2023. We continue to intensify this data collection in order to develop emission reduction targets over our entire value-added chain.
Arbonia’s sustainability strategy is based on the three pillars of Climate (ecological issues), Community (social issues), and Compliance (governance issues). These topics reflect our company’s holistic approach to sustainability and underscore that ecological, social, and business ethics aspects are inseparably connected to each other. Only through their interaction can we promote sustainable development in the long term and thereby ensure that we live up to our claim to commit ourselves to more than the legal requirements. As an active member of the UN Global Compact, we therefore advocate for the ten principles for human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption.
Along with many other companies, we are facing new challenges on a regulatory level, but we also regard these as an opportunity for a more comprehensive data basis and more targeted measures as a result. We are currently preparing for the requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) as well as the EU taxonomy, according to which we will report starting in the next financial year. As a result of the further development of our processes for regulatory reasons, sustainability aspects will be placed even more strongly in the focus of our corporate identity and reporting, which should lead to further effective steps.
We would be pleased if this report gives you an insight into our current status. In accordance with our sustainability strategy, it is divided into the three chapters: Climate, Community, and Compliance. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank in particular our shareholders, partners, customers, as well as all employees who accompany and support our plans and activities. Together, we are committed to a future in which economic development, environmental protection, and social responsibility are not contradictions.
Alexander von Witzleben
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Uwe Schiller
CFO
