About this report

The 2022 CR Report is a Communication on Progress that looks at the key developments during the reporting period and provides additional information about the latest developments. We use different formats to reach the various target groups: 

• The homepage lists the most important messages from our 2022 Sustainability Day under the motto of “We walk the talk”. The entire Board of Management took this opportunity to present the updated sustainability strategy as well as the targets and measures which will guide us on our journey to becoming one of the most sustainable telecommunications companies. Readers can access comprehensive information about our sustainability topics by following the links to the pages that follow. Readers who are only interested in Deutsche Telekom’s progress during the reporting period can follow a link to access our “Management & Facts” Communication on Progress directly. 
• A news ticker provides continual updates on the latest events and activities, which can be reached via the homepage. Individual news stories specific to each topic can be found on the in-depth themed pages or in the national company profiles.
• At “Experiencing sustainability”, we look at key sustainability issues, from various perspectives, and in multimedia presentations. With plain, clear language, Experiencing sustainability is aimed at a general audience. The in-depth themed pages are grouped in keeping with the four societal trends, “Green future,” “Digital life,” “New way of working,” and “Green stewardship.” We take a look at a new topic on a regular basis. Some of the themed pages are also available in simplified language.
• In our “Management & Facts” Communication on Progress, we provide information, in the four main categories (“pillars”) Strategy, Economy, Environment, and Social, about Deutsche Telekom’s sustainability-oriented management structures and about its progress in the year under review. In some topic areas, we invite interested readers to engage in direct discussion with Deutsche Telekom experts. With the report, we meet requirements pertaining to conventional accountability reporting. 
• In our national companies section, the majority of our national companies whose CR activities are described in this report also present their own CR profile. 
• The Management & Facts progress report also includes a section on key figures. In addition, we offer an interactive KPI  tool that lets users pick and choose key figures to create a customized compilation. 
• The report also includes search, “read-aloud” (text-to-speech) and “share” functionality, for added user convenience. What’s more, an “info cart” lets readers select different content and create a customized PDF file.
• The report is supplemented by the new CR facts format, which individual Deutsche Telekom departments use to report directly on their sustainability-related projects and measures. Readers can access the CR facts section at any time by clicking on the link in the report's footer.
• The report’s footer includes links to a download center, dialog functions, a glossary, and other relevant websites.

As a Group report, Deutsche Telekom’s “Management & Facts” Communication on Progress and the section on key figures include many national companies. It covers – like the annual report – the period from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022. CR reporting is carried out each year, with the 2022 Communication on Progress following up on that of 2021. Any deviations are marked accordingly. The publication date is March 28, 2023. The Communication on Progress was compiled in line with the 2021 GRI Standards.

The CR Report pertains to the Group with its 63 domestic and 290 international, fully consolidated subsidiaries; any deviations are marked accordingly.

Our supplementary themed pages under “Experiencing sustainability” are oriented to current social trends, and they are updated and/or supplemented throughout the year as necessary.

The current report is specifically addressed to Deutsche Telekom stakeholders. These include analysts and investors; CR ranking and rating agencies; NGOs; customers, employees, and business partners; and representatives from the worlds of business, science, research, education, and politics.

The “Management & Facts” Communication on Progress and section on key figures comply with the internationally recognized guidelines (GRI Standards) of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). We also highlight our contribution to achieving the SDGs  in many places. This year we also show, with the help of a special index , which content in the 2022 report contributes to meeting the criteria established by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). The  2022 CR Report also serves as a Communication on Progress (CoP) from Deutsche Telekom as part of the United Nations Global Compact. Deutsche Telekom also issues an annual, detailed Declaration of Conformity with the German Sustainability Code.

Limited Assurance Report of the Independent Practitioner Regarding Sustainability Information¹

To Deutsche Telekom AG, Bonn/Germany

Engagement
We have performed a limited assurance engagement on the disclosures marked with the symbol  in the Corporate Responsibility Report of Deutsche Telekom AG, Bonn/Germany (“the Company”), for the period from 1 January to  31 December 2022 (“sustainability report”). Our engagement solely covers the disclosures marked with the symbol  .

Our engagement does not cover the paragraphs not marked with the symbol  , or other disclosures in the sustainability report of the Company.

Responsibilities of the Executive Directors
The executive directors of the Company are responsible for the preparation of the sustainability report in accordance with the principles stated in the Sustainability Reporting Standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (hereafter referred to as “GRI Criteria”) and for the selection of the disclosures to be assessed.

These responsibilities of the Company’s executive directors include the selection and application of appropriate methods for sustainability reporting and the use of assumptions and estimates for individual sustainability disclosures which are reasonable under the given circumstances. In addition, the executive directors are responsible for such internal control as they have determined necessary to enable the preparation of a sustainability report that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud (fraudulent non-financial reporting) or error.

The preciseness and completeness of environmental data of the sustainability reporting is subject to inherent restrictions resulting from the way how the data was collected and calculated and from assumptions made.

Independence and Quality Assurance of the Audit  Firm
We have fulfilled the requirements of German professional law on independence and further professional rules of conduct.

Our audit firm applies the national statutory rules and professional announcements – particularly of the “Professional Charter for German Public Auditors and German Sworn Auditors” (BS WP/vBP) and of the IDW Quality Assurance Standard: Quality Assurance Requirements in Audit Practices (IDW QS 1) promulgated by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW) and does therefore maintain a comprehensive quality assurance system comprising documented regulations and measures in respect of compliance with professional rules of conduct, professional standards, as well as relevant statutory and other legal requirements.

Responsibilities of the Independent Practitioner
Our responsibility is to express a conclusion on the disclosures marked with the symbol  in the sustainability report based on our work performed within our limited assurance engagement.

Our engagement does not cover the paragraphs not marked with the symbol , or other disclosures in the sustainability report of the Company.

We conducted our work in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 (Revised): Assurance Engagements Other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information, issued by the IAASB. This standard requires that we plan and perform the assurance engagement so that we can conclude with limited assurance whether matters have come to our attention that cause us to believe that the disclosures marked with the symbol  in the Company’s sustainability report for the period from 1 January to  31 December 2022 have not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the relevant GRI Criteria. However, we do not issue a separate conclusion on each marked disclosure.

The procedures performed in a limited assurance engagement are less in extent than for a reasonable assurance engagement; consequently, the level of assurance obtained in a limited assurance engagement is substantially lower than the assurance that would have been obtained had a reasonable assurance engagement been performed. The choice of assurance work is subject to the practitioner’s professional judgement.

Within the scope of our limited assurance engagement, which we mostly performed between October 2022 and March 2023, we performed, among others, the following procedures and other work:

• Obtaining an understanding of the structure of the sustainability organisation of the Group, and of the stakeholders ’ engagement,
• Inquiries of relevant personnel involved in the preparation process of the sustainability report about the preparation process, about the internal control relating to this process and about disclosures in the sustainability report,
• Identification of potential risks of material misstatement in the sustainability report,
• Analytical assessment of selected disclosures in the sustainability report,
• Examination of processes to collect, control, analyse and aggregate selected data at different sites of the Company on a sample basis,
• Comparison of selected disclosures with corresponding data in the consolidated financial statements and the combined management report,
• Assessment of the overall presentation of the selected disclosures in the sustainability report.

Practitioner’s Conclusion
Based on the work performed and the evidence obtained, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the disclosures marked with the symbol  in the Company’s sustainability report for the period from 1 January to  31 December 2022 have not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the relevant GRI Criteria.

Restriction of Use
We issue this report as stipulated in the engagement letter agreed with the Company (including the “General Engagement Terms for Wirtschaftsprüfer and Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaften (German Public Audi-tors and Public Audit Firms)” as of 1 January 2017 promulgated by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW)). We draw attention to the fact that the assurance engagement was performed for the purposes of the Company and the report is solely designed for informing the Company about the findings of the assurance engagement. Therefore, it may not be suitable for another than the aforementioned purpose. Hence, this report should not be used by third parties as a basis for any (asset) decision.

We are liable solely to the Company. However, we do not assume any responsibility to third parties. Our conclusion was not modified in this respect.

Düsseldorf/Germany, 30 March 2023

Deloitte GmbH
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

Dr Tim Hoffmann                                   Dr Matthias Schmidt
Wirtschaftsprüfer
(German Public Auditor)

¹Translation: German version prevails

Independent practitioner’s report on a limited assurance engagement on Non-financial reporting

To Deutsche Telekom AG, Bonn

Engagement
We have performed an assurance engagement on the consolidated non-financial statement of Deutsche Telekom AG, Bonn/Germany, (hereafter referred to as “the Company”), which has been combined with the non-financial statement of the Company, and which is contained in the combined management report of the parent and the group, for the financial year from January 1 to December 31, 2022 (hereafter referred to as “combined non-financial statement”). As requested, we have performed a reasonable assurance engagement on the indicators “energy consumption” and “CO₂ emissions (Scope 1 and 2)” presented in the combined non-financial statement (hereafter referred to as the “indicators”) and a limited assurance engagement on all other disclosures contained in the combined non-financial statement.

Our engagement does not cover the external sources of documentation and expert opinions stated in the combined non-financial statement nor the references to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals  (SDG) marked with the SDG symbol.

Responsibilities of the Executive Directors
The executive directors of the Company are responsible for the preparation of the combined non-financial statement in accordance with Sections 289c to 289e, 315c in conjunction with 289c to 289e German Commercial Code (HGB) and Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and the Council of June 18, 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (hereafter referred to as “EU Taxonomy  Regulation”) and the delegated acts adopted thereon, as well as with the interpretation of the wording and terminology contained in the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the delegated acts adopted thereon by the executive directors, as is presented in section “Compliance with the EU taxonomy transparency requirements” of the combined non-financial statement (hereafter referred to as “interpretation”).

These responsibilities of the executive directors of the Company include the selection and application of appropriate methods regarding the combined non-financial statement and the use of assumptions and estimates for individual non-financial presentations and disclosures of the Group which are reasonable under the given circumstances. In addition, the executive directors are responsible for such internal control as they have determined necessary to enable the preparation of a combined non-financial statement that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud (i.e. fraudulent combined non-financial statement) or error.

Some of the wording and terminology contained in the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the delegated acts adopted thereon are still subject to considerable interpretation uncertainty and have not yet been officially clarified. Therefore, the executive directors have laid down their own interpretation of the EU Taxonomy Regulation and of the delegated acts adopted thereon in section “Compliance with the EU taxonomy transparency requirements” of the combined non-financial statement. They are responsible for the reasonableness of this interpretation. As there is the immanent risk that indefinite legal concepts may allow for various interpretations, the legal conformity of the interpretation is prone to uncertainty.

The preciseness and completeness of environmental data of the combined non-financial statement, which include the indicators, is subject to inherent restrictions resulting from the way in which the data was collected and calculated and from the assumptions made.

Independence and Quality Assurance of the Audit  Firm
We have fulfilled the requirements of German professional law on independence and further professional rules of conduct.

Our audit firm applies the national statutory rules and professional pronouncement – especially the Professional Charter for German Public Auditors and Sworn Auditors (BS WP/vBP) as well as the Quality Assurance Standard: Quality Assurance Requirements in Audit Practices (IDW QS 1) promulgated by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW) – and therefore maintains an extensive quality assurance system comprising documented rules and measures in respect of compliance with professional rules of conduct, professional standards and relevant statutory and other legal requirements.

Responsibilities of the Independent Practitioner
Our responsibility in each case is to express a conclusion on the indicators “energy consumption” and “CO₂ emissions (Scope 1 and 2)” presented in the combined non-financial statement based on our work performed within our reasonable assurance engagement as well as to express a conclusion on all other disclosures contained in the combined non-financial statement based on our work performed within our limited assurance engagement.

We conducted our work in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 (Revised): “Assurance Engagements Other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information (ISAE 3000  (Revised))”, issued by the IAASB. This standard requires that we plan and perform the assurance engagement so that we

• obtain reasonable assurance to conclude whether the indicators presented in the combined non-financial statement of the Company for the period from January 1 to December 31, 2022 have been stated by the executive directors, in all material respects, in accordance with Sections 315c in conjunction with 289c to 289e HGB, and
• obtain limited assurance to conclude whether matters have come to our attention to cause us to believe that all other disclosures contained in the combined non-financial statement of the Company, with the exception of the external sources of documentation and expert opinions stated therein and the references to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) marked with the SDG symbol, have not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with Sections 289c to 289e, 315c in conjunction with 289c to 289e HGB, and the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the delegated acts adopted thereon, as well as with the interpretation by the executive directors presented in section “Compliance with the EU taxonomy transparency requirements” of the combined non-financial statement.

The procedures performed in that part of our engagement to obtain limited assurance are less in extent than for a reasonable assurance engagement; consequently, the level of assurance obtained in a limited assurance engagement is substantially lower than the assurance that would have been obtained had a reasonable assurance engagement been performed. The choice of assurance work is subject to the practitioner’s professional judgement.

Within the scope of our assurance engagement, which we mostly performed between October 2022 and February 2023, we performed, among others, the following procedures and other work:

• Gaining an understanding of the structure of the sustainability organisation of the Group, and of the stakeholders ’ engagement,
• Inquiries of relevant personnel involved in the preparation process about the preparation process, about the internal controls relating to this process and about disclosures in the combined non-financial statement,
• Identification of potential risks of material misstatement in the combined non-financial statement,
• Analytical evaluation of selected disclosures in the combined non-financial statement,
• Comparison of selected disclosures with corresponding data in the consolidated and annual financial statements and the combined management report,
• Evaluation of the presentation of the combined non-financial statement,
• Evaluation of the process to identify taxonomy-eligible and taxonomy-aligned economic activities and the corresponding disclosures in the combined non-financial statement.

In addition to the above, we performed the following procedures and other work within the scope of that part of our assurance engagement performed to obtain reasonable assurance regarding the indicators presented in the combined non-financial statement of the Company:

• Evaluation of the design and implementation of the systems and processes for determining, processing and monitoring the disclosures relating to the indicators,
• Risk evaluation,
• Tests of details on a sample basis.

The determination of the disclosures in accordance with Article 8 of the EU Taxonomy Regulation requires the executive directors to interpret indefinite legal concepts. As there is the immanent risk that indefinite legal concepts may allow for various interpretations, the legal conformity of the interpretation, and hence our related examination, is prone to uncertainty. This uncertainty, in particular, also affects the quantification of performance indicators in measuring and/or evaluating these performance indicators.

Practitioner’s Conclusion
We conclude that the indicators “energy consumption” and “CO₂ emissions (Scope 1 and 2)” presented in the combined non-financial statement of the Company for the period from January 1 to December 31, 2022 have been stated by the executive directors, in all material respects, in accordance with Sections 315c in conjunction with 289c to 289e HGB.

Based on the work performed and the evidence obtained, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that all other disclosures in the combined non-financial statement of the Company for the financial year from January 1 to December 31, 2022 have not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the Sections 289c to 289e, 315c in conjunction with 289c to 289e HGB as well as the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the delegated acts adopted thereon, as well as with the interpretation by the executive directors presented in section “Compliance with the EU taxonomy transparency requirements” of the combined non-financial statement.

We do not express a conclusion on the external sources of documentation and expert opinions stated in the combined non-financial statement nor on the references to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) marked with the SDG symbol.

Restriction of Use
We issue this report as stipulated in the engagement letter agreed with the Company (including the “General Engagement Terms for Wirtschaftsprüfer and Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaften (German Public Auditors and Public Audit Firms)” as of January 1, 2017 promulgated by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW)). We draw attention to the fact that the assurance engagement was performed for the purposes of the Company and the report is solely designed for informing the Company about the findings of the assurance engagement. Therefore, it may not be suitable for another than the aforementioned purpose. Hence, this report should not be used by third parties as a basis for any (asset) decision.

We are responsible solely to the Company. However, we do not accept or assume any responsibility to third parties. Our conclusion was not modified in this respect.

Düsseldorf, February 21, 2023

Deloitte GmbH
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

Signed:                                                                  Signed:
Dr. Tim Hoffmann                                                  Dr. Matthias Schmidt
Wirtschaftsprüfer
(German Public Auditor)