GIZ’s Corporate Sustainability Handprint® (CSH)

GIZ promotes sustainability management at its locations outside Germany, and the CSH is its most important management tool.

The company promotes sustainability management at its locations outside Germany with a specially developed instrument, the Corporate Sustainability Handprint® (CSH). This is a decentralised management instrument that enables sustainability measures and environmental data to be recorded efficiently and systematically at around 80 locations outside Germany. It also supports GIZ in further developing the sustainability profile of its country offices. While an environmental footprint measures things such as water consumption and CO2 emissions, the handprint documents active contributions towards sustainability, such as installing solar panels rather than generators, arranging carpools for commutes, raising awareness of health issues, providing information about ethical conduct in potential conflict situations, and ensuring sustainable procurement.

Each year, country offices use the CSH to collect sustainability data, such as CO2 emissions resulting from business trips, local procurement, water consumption and the percentage of management posts held by women. They use this quantitative data to set two-yearly targets for sustainability measures, contributing to a positive company ‘handprint’.