In a world where climate change poses an ever-increasing threat, organizations across industries are working diligently to reduce their carbon footprints and embed sustainability into their business strategies. The media industry, known for its high energy use due to the rise of digital content and streaming, is no exception. Thilo Pommerening, Sustainability Manager at Deutsche Welle (DW), plays a key role in driving sustainability and decarbonization efforts within the organization. Through his experiences, Thilo provides key insights that sustainability managers across industries can learn from, particularly in the areas of emissions reduction, corporate sustainability software, and embedding sustainability into business operations.

Building a Comprehensive Sustainability Strategy

When Thilo joined DW, sustainability efforts were just ramping up. He explains: “We used the first sustainability report as an inventory to better understand where we were and where we wanted to go in the various fields of action.” His leadership focused on creating a structured, data-driven approach to sustainability, enabling the organization to set clear goals such as halving emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero by 2045. This strategy was developed in collaboration with colleagues across various departments to ensure a company-wide commitment to sustainability.

DW Sustainability Report: Climate Protection and Social Diversity

According to the latest report, DW’s greenhouse gas emissions have dropped by 60% compared to 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic played a role in this reduction, as it accelerated the digital transformation such as increasing the prevalence of online conferences and changed travel habits. Additionally, DW has implemented various measures to significantly reduce its energy consumption and introduced new policies for business travel and procurement processes. Domestic flights were reduced by 91 percent, surpassing the target of 80 percent. As a result, DW has revised its climate protection goal and is now aiming to permanently halve its emissions by 2030.

Details of these advancements can be found in Deutsche Welle Sustainability Highlights 2024.

The leadership at DW aligns with these efforts, particularly in the strategic establishment of sustainability practices across the organization. Thilo notes that the company has embedded sustainability into its core objectives, creating synergies across departments to promote energy management, green production, mobility, and diversity.

Prioritizing Decarbonization Over Carbon Offsetting

One of the most impactful decisions Thilo drove forward was to steer DW away from carbon offsetting and focusing instead on reducing emissions at the source. As Thilo explained, “We realized that many of the carbon credits on the market don't actually hold their promise—whether due to issues like additionality, permanence, or double counting. So, rather than investing in carbon credits that may not deliver the intended benefits, we decided to channel our resources into reducing our own emissions. We prefer putting all our efforts into reducing our carbon footprints, whether that’s through energy efficiency or more sustainable practices.”

Rather than relying on potentially ineffective offsets, Thilo focused on practical internal solutions. “DW took the money it would have spent on buying carbon credits and put it toward concrete measures—such as upgrading the lighting systems across all of our studios to energy-efficient alternatives. It was one of the first steps in a larger effort to reduce our energy consumption and cut emissions,” Thilo shared, emphasizing the importance of sustainable investments.

This decision to prioritize in-house decarbonization reflects the broader industry shift toward real, measurable sustainability actions, aligning with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which stresses emissions reductions over offsetting. Thilo’s focus here highlights the importance of direct, internal efforts over compensatory measures, ensuring that sustainability is not only part of the strategy but becomes a core business principle for long-term success.

The Role of Data and Technology in Sustainability

Data plays a critical role in Thilo’s strategy, especially when it comes to tracking emissions and managing sustainability initiatives. “When we set up the first sustainability report, we noted that we needed a lot of data,” Thilo explained. Initially, DW relied on an Excel-based system, collecting over 500 data points annually, such as travel data and energy consumption. However, as sustainability reporting became more complex and the demand for data accuracy increased, Thilo’s team realized the need for more robust corporate sustainability software to manage this data effectively.

This shift toward more sophisticated tools is a reflection of the broader trend in sustainability management. A 2020 report from the World Economic Forum highlighted that digital tools and intelligent sustainability software are critical to achieving decarbonization goals, as they provide real-time data and insights necessary for making informed decisions. Thilo’s foresight in pushing for digital transformation and automation of sustainability data collection is aligned with industry best practices, and will allow DW to monitor their carbon footprint more effectively and ensure they stay on track with their emission reduction targets.

As Thilo noted, “Data quality enables decarbonization. If you don’t have accurate data, you don’t know where the real issues are.” This statement underscores the vital role of data management in sustainability efforts, as well as the need for sustainability managers to leverage the latest technology and software to track progress and optimize their strategies.

Thilo’s Milestones in Sustainability

Thilo Pommerening’s work at DW highlights the importance of building a structured, data-driven sustainability strategy that prioritizes decarbonization over compensatory measures like carbon offsetting. By aligning corporate objectives with sustainability goals, leveraging data and intelligent sustainability software, and engaging stakeholders across the organization, Thilo has successfully embedded sustainability into the core of DW’s operations.

For sustainability managers across industries, Thilo’s approach serves as a valuable blueprint. His focus on practical, measurable actions—combined with his leadership in fostering collaboration and utilizing advanced data management tools—demonstrates the powerful role that sustainability leaders can play in driving real, impactful change.

Resources

- McKinsey & Company. "The Business of Sustainability: McKinsey Global Survey Results." McKinsey & Company, 20 Oct. 2021, www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/the-business-of-sustainability-mckinsey-global-survey-results. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.

- Science Based Targets Initiative. "SBTi Releases Technical Publications in an Early Step in the Corporate Net-Zero Standard Review." Science Based Targets Initiative, 18 Sept. 2023, sciencebasedtargets.org/news/sbti-releases-technical-publications-in-an-early-step-in-the-corporate-net-zero-standard-review. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024

- World Economic Forum. "How Digital Technology Can Help Achieve Sustainability Goals." World Economic Forum, 21 Jan. 2022, www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/01/digital-technology-sustainability-strategy/. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of any company.