Limited Assurance Report of the Independent Auditor Regarding the Combined Separate Non-Financial Report

To the Supervisory Board of Wacker Chemie AG, Munich

We have performed an independent limited assurance engagement on the combined separate non-financial report of Wacker Chemie AG, Munich (further “the Company” or “Wacker Chemie AG”) and the Group (further “Combined Separate Non-Financial Report”) for the period from January 1 to December 31, 2023.

The external documentation sources, expert opinions or information not within the gray separation lines mentioned in the Combined Separate Non-Financial Report are not the subject of our audit. Only the sections highlighted within the gray separation lines constitute the contents of the Combined Separate Non-Financial Report.

Management’s Responsibility

The management of Wacker Chemie AG is responsible for the preparation of the Combined Separate Non-Financial Report in accordance with Section 315c in conjunction with Sections 289c to 289e HGB (“Handelsgesetzbuch”: German Commercial Code) and Article 8 of REGULATION (EU) 2020/852 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 18 June 2020 on establishing a framework to facilitate sustainable investment and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (hereinafter the “EU Taxonomy Regulation”) and the Delegated Acts adopted thereunder, as well as their own interpretation of the wording and terms contained in the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Delegated Acts adopted thereunder as set out in section “EU Taxonomy Regulation” of the Combined Separate Non-Financial Report.

This responsibility of the management includes the selection and application of appropriate methods to prepare the combined separate non-financial report and the use of assumptions and estimates for individual disclosures which are reasonable under the given circumstances. In addition, management is responsible for such internal control as they have determined necessary to enable the preparation of the Combined Separate Non-Financial Report that is free from material misstatement due to fraudulent behavior (that is, manipulation of the non-financial statement) or error.

The EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Delegated Acts issued thereunder contain wording and terms that are still subject to considerable interpretation uncertainties and for which clarifications have not yet been published in every case. Therefore, management has disclosed their interpretation of the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Delegated Acts adopted thereunder in section “EU Taxonomy Regulation” of the Combined Separate Non-Financial Report. They are responsible for the defensibility of this interpretation. Due to the immanent risk that indeterminate legal terms may be interpreted differently, the legal conformity of the interpretation is subject to uncertainties.

Independence and Quality Assurance on the Part of the Auditing Firm

In performing this engagement, we have complied with the independence and quality assurance requirements set out in the national legal provisions and professional pronouncements, in particular the Professional Code for German Public Auditors and Chartered Accountants (in Germany) and the quality assurance standard of the German Institute of Public Auditors (Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer, IDW) regarding quality assurance requirements in audit practice (IDW QS 1).

Assurance Practitioner’s Responsibility

It is our responsibility to express a conclusion on the Combined Separate Non-Financial Report based on our work performed within a limited assurance engagement.

We conducted our assurance engagement in accordance with 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 to obtain limited assurance about whether any matters have come to our attention that cause us to believe that the Company’s Combined Separate Non-Financial Report, other than the external sources of documentation, expert opinions, or information that is not within the gray separation lines, mentioned in the Combined Separate Non-Financial Report, are not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with Section 315c in conjunction with Sections 289c to 289e HGB and the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Delegated Acts issued thereunder as well as the interpretation by management disclosed in section “EU Taxonomy Regulation” of the Combined Separate Non-Financial Report in the reporting period from January 1 to December 31, 2023. 

In a limited assurance engagement, the procedures performed are less extensive than in a reasonable assurance engagement, and accordingly, a substantially lower level of assurance is obtained. The selection of the assurance procedures is subject to the professional judgment of the assurance practitioner.

In the course of our assurance engagement, we have, among other things, performed the following assurance procedures and other activities:

• Inquiries of Group-level personnel who are responsible for the materiality analysis in order to understand the processes for determining material topics and respective reporting boundaries for Wacker Chemie AG
• A risk analysis, including media research, to identify relevant information on Wacker Chemie AG’s sustainability performance in the reporting period
• Reviewing the suitability of internally developed definitions
• Evaluation of the design and the implementation of systems and processes for the collection, processing and monitoring of disclosures, including data consolidation, on environmental, employee and social matters, respect for human rights, and anti-corruption and bribery matters
• Inquiries of Group-level personnel who are responsible for determining disclosures on concepts, due diligence processes, results and risks, performing internal control functions and consolidating disclosures
• Inspection of selected internal and external documents
• Analytical procedures for the evaluation of data and of the trends of quantitative disclosures as reported at Group level by all sites
• Evaluation of local data collection, validation and reporting processes as well as the reliability of reported data based on a sample taken at the site in Nünchritz in Germany
• Assessment of the overall presentation of the disclosures
• Inquiries of Group-level personnel in order to understand the processes for identifying relevant economic activities according to the EU Taxonomy Regulation
• Understanding the design and implementation of systems and processes for the identification, processing and monitoring of turnover, capital expenditure and operating expense disclosures for taxonomy-eligible and taxonomy-aligned economic activities
• Evaluation of the process for the identification of taxonomy-eligible and taxonomy-aligned economic activities and the corresponding disclosures in the Combined Separate Non-Financial Report

In determining the disclosures in accordance with Article 8 of the EU Taxonomy Regulation, management is required to interpret undefined legal terms. Due to the immanent risk that undefined legal terms may be interpreted differently, the legal conformity of their interpretation and, accordingly, our assurance engagement thereon are subject to uncertainties.

Assurance Opinion

Based on the assurance procedures performed and the evidence obtained, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the Combined Separate Non-Financial Report of Wacker Chemie AG for the period from January 1 to December 31, 2023 has not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with Section 315c in conjunction with Sections 289c to 289e HGB and the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Delegated Acts issued thereunder as well as the interpretation by management as disclosed in section “EU Taxonomy Regulation” of the Combined Separate Non-Financial Report.

We do not express an assurance opinion on the external sources of documentation, expert opinions, or information not within the gray separation lines mentioned in the Combined Separate Non-Financial Report.

Restriction of Use / Clause on General Engagement Terms

This assurance report is issued for purposes of the Supervisory Board of Wacker Chemie AG, Munich, only. We assume no responsibility with regard to any third parties.

Our assignment for the Supervisory Board of Wacker Chemie AG, Munich, and professional liability is governed by the General Engagement Terms for Wirtschaftsprüfer (German Public Auditors) and Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaften (German Public Audit Firms) (Allgemeine Auftragsbedingungen für Wirtschaftsprüfer und Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaften) in the version dated January 1, 2017 (https://www.kpmg.de/bescheinigungen/lib/aab_english.pdf). By reading and using the information contained in this assurance report, each recipient confirms having taken note of provisions of the General Engagement Terms (including the limitation of our liability for negligence to EUR 4 million as stipulated in No. 9) and accepts the validity of the attached General Engagement Terms with respect to us.

Munich,  February 29, 2024    

KPMG AG
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft