Public Affairs and Transparency
We see ourselves as a dialog partner in an ever more complex digital world and are actively involved in political debate – responsible, fair, and based on facts. Deutsche Telekom engages directly with policy makers as well as indirectly via trade associations, the latter being the cornerstone of the public relations activities by Deutsche Telekom Group.
For the management of our lobbying activities and trade association memberships, our guiding principle is to respect the independence and integrity of our political interlocutors. We do not make any donations to political organizations, political parties, or elected officials on principle. Our lobby work is characterized by accurate, objective preparation of the facts at hand. When we avail ourselves of scientific support, we always do so transparently.

Code of Conduct and Compliance
We have made a public written commitment to ethical standards of behavior and enshrined these in our strict, extensive compliance program (Code of Conduct), including Deutsche Telekom’s guidelines political contributions. Our Code of Conduct is the central governance framework for lawful and ethical conduct. Integrity, respect, and compliance with the law and internal policies and regulations – these are the principles on which Deutsche Telekom’s business activities are based.
Deutsche Telekom’s code of conduct and compliance policies sum up the values of Deutsche Telekom and define what kind of behavior is required by those who work for it. The Code of Conduct applies to all board members, managing directors, executives and employees of the Deutsche Telekom worldwide. Additionally, it applies to people to who are viewed as equivalent to employees in functional terms, e. g. to temporary agency employees.
Telekom has a holistic compliance management system (CMS) in place to ensure conduct with integrity and in compliance with the law throughout the Group at all times and to successfully counter compliance risks.

Supporting the Paris Agreement
We are helping to mitigate climate change and contributing to compliance with the Paris Climate Agreement. We are a member of the Science Based Targets Initiative and have developed a science-based reduction target for Deutsche Telekom to make our contribution for limiting global warming. Additionally, Deutsche Telekom has committed to conduct engagement activities in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Deutsche Telekom supports regulations promoting the transition towards a 1.5° world e.g. via industry associations and by supporting various pledges with respect to the support of the Paris Climate Agreement 2015.

Alignment of our political engagement with the Paris Agreement
Deutsche Telekom has a process in place to ensure that political engagement activities are consistent with the overall climate change strategy. Due to intensive cooperation between Group Corporate Responsibility, Group Corporate Communications and Group Public and Regulatory affairs we ensure that our engagement within industry associations is in line with group climate strategy and policy. Therefore, sustainability experts are representing DT in various associations, as e.g. within the GeSI Board or as Cahir of the ETNO Environmental Working Group.
We reviewed whether public policy engagements and lobbying are aligned with the Paris Agreement and found many of our trade association’s positions and lobbying activities are aligned with the aims of the Paris Agreement.

 In some instances, our trade associations’ policy positions and lobbying activities may not fully align with our positions on issues, including the Paris Agreement’s goals and other sustainability topics. For those trade associations where we determined we are only partially aligned on issues relating to climate, to mitigate any misalignment, we expect to engage further with these trade associations to understand their positions better, work to influence change and finally, assess whether our membership should continue. Additionally, as we work to mitigate any misalignment related to climate, it is essential to consider other factors relevant to company interests, such as safety or diversity and inclusion. We believe that having a seat at the table with our trade associations allows us to communicate our views and influence the dialogue and activities in a manner that aligns with our commitment to sustainability and the long-term interests of our shareholders and other stakeholders, including around transparency and reporting.

In future reports, we may look to provide updated information on alignment with climate change aims and, where there is any misalignment, information on mitigating efforts.