Principles for Preparing the Sustainability Report

The Group’s Sustainability Report is prepared on a consolidated basis for the WACKER Group. This Sustainability Report (sustainability statement as per ESRS) simultaneously meets the requirements that apply to the non-financial (Group) statement defined in Sections 289b et seq. of the German Commercial Code (HGB) and 315b to 315c HGB and therefore constitutes the combined non-financial statement for the WACKER Group and Wacker Chemie AG. The European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) are being used in their entirety for the first time as a framework for the Group declaration in accordance with Section 315c (3) in conjunction with Section 289d HGB due to the importance of ESRS as reporting standards adopted by the European Commission for sustainability reporting. We have not used a framework for our non-financial statement in relation to Wacker Chemie AG in accordance with Section 289b HGB because the relevant document for our stakeholders is an ESRS-compliant sustainability statement for the Group. This Sustainability Report comprises the combined non-financial statement for the WACKER Group and Wacker Chemie AG. Unless otherwise stated, all information relates to both the Group and Wacker Chemie AG.

In accordance with the joint statement of interoperability published by EFRAG and GRI on August 31, 2023, entities reporting under ESRS are considered as reporting with reference to GRI Standards as well. The audit only covered ESRS-compliant reporting.

To fulfill our reporting obligations under commercial law, we declare the following: We have no specific policy for social issues, as only immaterial risks, opportunities and impacts relating to such issues were identified. We monitor social issues on an ongoing basis and will introduce a policy if materiality becomes apparent. There are no material risks from our own operations or from business relationships, products and services that are very likely to have severe adverse impacts on the non-financial aspects in accordance with Section 289c HGB.

WACKER uses the “incorporated by reference option” and refers to other passages in the Group Management Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for disclosures on its strategy, business model and value chain. A list of the references can be found in the “General disclosures, strategy, business model and value chain” chapter. The disclosures in the Group Management Report and Consolidated Financial Statements indicate the corresponding specific ESRS requirements and are an integral component of this Sustainability Report. Links and references to further information do not form part of this Sustainability Report.

The German version of this report was audited by the Supervisory Board of Wacker Chemie AG and, on its behalf, by PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft. Auditing complied with the International Standard of Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 (Revised): “Assurance engagement other than audits or reviews of historical financial information” for the purpose of obtaining limited assurance with regard to the disclosures required by law pursuant to Section 315c in conjunction with Section 289e of the German Commercial Code (HGB). The audit certificate with an unqualified auditor’s opinion is reproduced after the independent auditor’s report in the consolidated financial statements.

Scope of consolidation and value chain

The scope of consolidation corresponds to that of the consolidated financial statements and includes all fully consolidated subsidiaries. Associated companies are not included in the scope of consolidation, but are taken into account in reporting as they are part of the upstream and downstream value chains.

The materiality assessment defined the upstream and downstream value chains as follows:

• Upstream value chain: material key suppliers and their subcontractors.
• Downstream value chain: essentially direct customers. Our products are used in numerous end applications, but are not sold directly to end consumers.

Our policies, actions and targets are geared toward the needs of our customers. We require our suppliers to comply with our principles of corporate ethics and sustainable corporate governance and to demonstrate a positive sustainability performance. We focus in particular on our key suppliers, who account for almost 80 percent of our procurement volume.

Time horizons and estimates

The reporting period extends from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024 and corresponds to the period covered by the consolidated financial statements.

The ESRS-compliant preparation of the sustainability report requires assumptions to be made and estimates to be used that affect the information on sustainability topics. These are based on the circumstances and estimates at the time of preparation and influence the information presented for the reporting year.

The material assumptions and estimates are disclosed in the respective chapters or in the corresponding disclosures.

Actual developments may differ from the assumptions and estimates that were made. Changes are taken into account whenever more detailed information becomes available and will affect information provided in future reporting periods.

All metrics and data used and listed in the report were audited by the appointed auditor and not by any other external quality assurance body.

No use was made of the option to omit classified and confidential information. The exemption provided in Articles 19a(3) and 29a(3) of directive 2013/34/EU was not exercised.

Changes in the presentation of sustainability information compared to the previous year

Due to the first-time preparation of the Sustainability Report in accordance with ESRS, WACKER has decided not to disclose prior-year data if this data has not previously been reported. If changes need to be made to the basis of calculation or if other relevant changes become necessary, WACKER explains the reasons and ascertains adjusted comparative figures, wherever possible.