Volker Höntsch (36) has been Head of Sustainability at Commerz Real since May 1, 2019. The graduate environmental scientist has more than ten years’ experience as an expert for sustainability and corporate responsibility. Most recently he was Group Sustainability and Reporting Manager at Informa, an international event organizer and academic publishing company which is listed on the British FTSE 100 share index.
“Alongside Industry 4.0, the responsible use of the world’s precious resources is the dominant topic of our age,” explained Andreas Muschter, the Chief Executive Officer of Commerz Real. “As a specialist for fixed assets we have the opportunity, and also the responsibility, to make a significant contribution to sustainability, and we will implement this swiftly under the management of an internationally experienced specialist of the calibre of Volker Höntsch.”
Thus, Commerz Real intends to consider and report on the performance of its current and future investments on the basis of ESG criteria (ESG = environmental, social and governance) more accurately than has been the case to date. “In this respect the ongoing digitalisation of our processes and business models acts as a catalyst,” added Muschter. This means in the medium term, for example, being in a position to deliver all the relevant data on the sustainability of real estate and having already implemented measures to bring about a significant reduction in heating energy, electricity consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and water consumption. “The majority of companies and, thus also users, of our properties will have to provide significantly more non-financial information and data in the future,” forecasted Höntsch. “In this regard many companies would like to see specific solutions that allow them to concentrate on their core business.” In addition, the company intends to intensify and extend its activities in the social and governance fields. “As a company we will also devote more attention to these components in the future so that we also take the changing needs of our employees, for instance in terms of working conditions and social economic activity, into account to a greater degree in the future,” confirmed Muschter. Höntsch on his initial tasks: “To attain all of these goals we will begin by developing a comprehensive sustainability strategy together with all the relevant stakeholders.”
