Our Sustainability Strategy

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues are an integral part of our corporate strategy. We believe that the active management of sustainability-related risks and opportunities will play a key role in the long-term success of our portfolio and our investments. Inadequate ESG practices can lead to operational, environmental and social risks that could cause lasting damage to our company’s reputation and/or assets.

The long-term value of Deutsche EuroShop’s shopping centers depends on them being popular destinations for visitors, successfully utilised by tenants and accepted by authorities as part of the urban fabric and as a means of enhancing the local area. These dependencies – footfall, tenant quality and social legitimacy are direct value drivers not soft factors. We address them systematically in our sustainability strategy.

Our sustainability activities are aligned with internationally recognised frameworks, such as the standards of the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) and the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB). Our strategic approach is supported by these frameworks and our own ESG policies. By implementing our integrated sustainability strategy, we are strengthening the overall resilience and future viability of our business model.

The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) serve as an important international reference framework for our integrated sustainability strategy. Based on our materiality assessment, we have identified the SDGs to which Deutsche EuroShop can make a measurable and direct contribution. These include SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG 13 – Climate Action.

• Green leases: We are adding sustainability criteria to our tenancy agreements and setting clear requirements for the energy- and resource-efficient use of leased areas.
• Ecological efficiency: We are lowering energy and water consumption by using innovative building technology, sustainable materials and intelligent control systems.
• Managing physical and transitional climate risks: We review our shopping centers with an eye to how exposed they are to extreme weather events (e.g., heavy rain, heat waves); we also monitor regulatory and market developments (e.g., carbon pricing) so that we can get out in front of potential risks.
• Green/blue infrastructure: We incorporate green and, where appropriate, blue elements (e.g. green roofs and façades, water features, natural outdoor areas, beehives) to provide visitors with a more pleasant experience. These features also mitigate climate change by making a positive contribution to the local microclimate and biodiversity.
• Holistic approach to waste and the circular economy: We are helping our tenants to recycle more by providing appropriate disposal options.
• Strategies for sustainable construction and renovation: We are planning and implementing construction and renovation projects which use resource-efficient building materials. These materials have a long lifespan, can be used for a number of different applications and have little impact on the environment.
• Sustainable mobility: We are promoting the use of environmentally friendly modes of transport by incentivising for public transport, expanding our electric vehicle charging infrastructure and providing extensive bicycle parking facilities.

More information about our climate and environmental protection management principles can be found in our topic-specific policies on Climate Action & Energy, Water and Environmental Protection & Waste.

Social

Our shopping centers are accessible and vibrant places of encounter where visitors can feel safe and comfortable as they shop and spend time together. As an important part of public space, we take responsibility for the local communities in which we operate. Our centers bring people together. That has a positive impact on footfall and gives us a competitive advantage over online retail. The following areas are of particular importance to us:

• Inclusive design: Our centers provide all visitors with an equally accessible and convenient shopping experience
• Facilitating participation: We provide offerings which are tailored to the needs of families, older people and people with disabilities
• Social and cultural offerings: In the form of events, markets, or charitable partnerships
• Codes of conduct: These set binding standards for our workforce, tenants and business partners
• Fair, safe, and healthy working conditions: For all of our employees
• Continuous monitoring and improvement processes: Based on DGNB criteria for socio-cultural and functional quality and assessed as part of the annual certification process.

We are committed to providing accessible centers that meet the needs of our visitors, tenants and business partners.

Governance

Sustainability is a core element of our governance structures. We integrate it into our certification standards, our requirements for business partners and suppliers and the remuneration policy for Executive Board members. But there’s more to it than that. We do this to ensure that the value of our shopping center portfolio remains on a steady upward trajectory while also maintaining a high level of liquidity.

We follow binding codes of conduct to maintain the integrity and reputation of Deutsche EuroShop. These codes shape how we act towards each other and those outside the company. They also underscore our lasting commitment to complying with all applicable legislation and taking responsibility – both for the environment and the well-being of the people who work with or for us, or visit our centers. By acting with integrity and a strong sense of responsibility, we are deepening the trust of our stakeholders and securing the long-term success of our company.

Strategic action

We ran a number of sustainability initiatives at our shopping centers in 2025 to make our strategy into a reality. These included:

• More green leases at Stadt-Galerie Hameln: We increased the proportion of leasable space covered by green leases at Stadt-Galerie Hameln to 76.6% at the end of 2025 (compared to 72.3% in the previous year). This means that Stadt-Galerie Hameln retained its spot at the top of the DES center leaderboard in the past financial year. We remain committed to increasing the percentage of green leases at all of our centers every year.
• Roof greening at Billstedt-Center, Hamburg: We installed new, innovative green roof elements at the Billstedt-Center in Hamburg in the summer of 2025. This green roof will help the center deal with extreme weather by protecting the building against heavy rainfall. It will also relieve the stress on the center’s drainage systems. This project will also contribute to cooling the center and the surrounding urban area.
• Energy savings at Olympia Center, Brno, Czech Republic: We implemented a number of energy efficiency measures at our Olympia Center in Brno, Czech Republic, in 2025. These included an extensive optimisation of the building’s ventilation systems and the addition of a number of new e-charging stations to the center’s car parks.
• Sustainable Timber Construction at Main-Taunus-Zentrum, Sulzbach/Frankfurt: The food garden at the Main-Taunus-Zentrum opened in spring 2025. All five of its free-standing restaurant buildings were built using durable, resource-efficient timber materials. These buildings used 1,300 m² of certified timber from sustainable forestry, allowing about 130 tonnes of CO₂ to be sequestered and saved. More than 80% of the timber came from regional forests in Hesse and Bavaria less than 70 kilometres away.
• Diversity and vibrancy at the Rhein-Neckar-Zentrum, Viernheim/Mannheim: We expanded the leisure area adjacent to the Rhein-Neckar-Zentrum in Viernheim/Mannheim in 2025. The launch of the new Food & Fun Park @ RNZ made this location even more lively and varied than it was before. This new area enhances the quality of life for visitors and broadens the variety of offerings within the center.

The charging concept for our portfolio

Centers with charging points¹

1 Additional sites are in the planning stages | AC = Alternating current | DC = Direct current (higher power) | HPC = High power charging

Green Financing

Green financing allows us to weave our sustainability strategy directly into our financial strategy. These green instruments also help us meet the rising expectations of stakeholders like our visitors, tenants, business partners and investors. Deutsche EuroShop successfully implemented a number of fundamental green finance projects in 2025.

Green Finance Framework established

We developed and published our very first Green Finance Framework in the first quarter of 2025. Sustainable Fitch awarded the framework an “Excellent” rating in a Second-Party Opinion: the highest possible grade. The Second-Party Opinion also confirmed that all transactions under this framework align with the “Green Bond Principles” of the International Capital Markets Association, as well as the “Green Loan Principles” of the Loan Market Association, the Loan Syndications and Trading Association and the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association. Both the Green Finance Framework and the Sustainable Fitch Second-Party Opinion are available to download from Deutsche EuroShop’s website.

Green bond successfully issued

Building on our Green Finance Framework, we successfully issued our inaugural green bond in June 2025. The bond has a volume of €500 million, and an annual interest rate of 4.50 %. It will mature in 5.3 years in October 2030. S&P Global Ratings assigned the bond a BBB- rating, reflecting the robust investment-grade credit profile of Deutsche EuroShop. We listed the bond on the Euro MTF market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The issue was met with a lot of interest from investors and was oversubscribed seven times.

Deutsche EuroShop committed to using a portion of the net proceeds from the bond issue to finance or refinance eligible green projects in accordance with our Green Finance Framework. We prepared a dedicated report following the bond issue to provide our investors with full transparency about how these funds will be used and the impact they will have. Because of this we focused our efforts on producing a comprehensive Green Finance Report from the third quarter of 2025 onwards.

Publication of the Green Finance Report

Our first Green Finance Report was published on schedule in April 2026, allowing us to meet all of the reporting requirements outlined in our Green Finance Framework. These requirements came into effect following our first use of green financing instruments in 2025. The purpose of a Green Finance Report is to provide detailed insights into how proceeds from green instruments have been deployed and the positive impact they have achieved.

We structured and prepared our Green Finance Report in line with the recommendations of the ICMA Harmonised Framework for Impact Reporting. The report provides detailed information about how the funds are allocated and what they are currently being used for. The report also contains detailed information about how the funds are having a positive impact on both the climate and the environment. We included our sustainability certification results and selected case studies to illustrate these points effectively. Our external auditors provided limited assurance for the Green Finance Report.

ESG Policies

We introduced new ESG Policies in November 2025 on the basis of our materiality assessment. These policies establish binding codes of conduct and sustainability standards for both our company and our business partners, strengthening our overall sustainability strategy.

An overview of our ESG policies  

Our ESG Policies include a code of conduct for employees, a code of conduct for business partners and suppliers, and topic-specific policies on Climate Action & Energy, Water, and Environmental Protection & Waste. These policies set mandatory standards for ethical conduct, fair collaboration and environmentally friendly operations across our 21 shopping centers, both in Germany and abroad. They are available on our website and are aligned with both statutory requirements and international and national standards.

Code of conduct for employees

Our code of conduct for employees defines our corporate culture and provides a compass for our daily actions. It provides a clear framework for how we should conduct ourselves when interacting with each other and external parties and helps us integrate sustainability and ESG criteria into clear governance structures. The code provides all Deutsche EuroShop employees with clear guidance to help them conduct themselves appropriately, even in challenging situations.

Code of conduct for business partners and suppliers

Our code of conduct for business partners and suppliers outlines a list of expectations in connection with ethical, social and environmental responsibility. Deutsche EuroShop expects its partners and suppliers to prioritise integrity, fairness and sustainability.  This code applies to all of Deutsche EuroShop’s business partners and suppliers, as well as their supply chains.

Climate Action and Environmental Protection policies

Our policies on Climate Action & Energy, Water and Environmental Protection & Waste define our guiding principles, guidelines and commitments in each of these areas. They also detail our material impacts, risks and opportunities, alongside concrete targets and measures designed to drive continuous improvement within each action area.

From policy to implementation

We rely on robust processes, systematic monitoring and comprehensive training programmes to ensure that our ESG policies are applied to our day-to-day business operations. As part of these efforts, the entire Deutsche EuroShop workforce completed several hours of training focused on the contents of the code of conduct. 100% of Deutsche EuroShop’s employees were individually certified by a specialised external training provider. In addition to training on policies, all of our staff also completed an extensive training course covering the responsible use of artificial intelligence in compliance with the European AI Act.

The introduction of these new ESG policies during this reporting period represents a major milestone in Deutsche EuroShop’s journey towards greater transparency, integrity and responsibility towards the environment, society and its investors. These policies will also make Deutsche EuroShop more resilient while helping us to secure our long-term viability going forward.

Green Energy

All of our 21 shopping centers already run exclusively on green energy based on contracts with utilities that use renewable energy sources such as hydro-power to generate electricity. From 2025, however, all 21 centers will use only green electricity, and all German centers will be supplied with green electricity under a power purchase agreement (PPA).

Our 21 shopping centers used a total of around 76.4 million kWh of green electricity in 2025. This represents 100 % of the electricity requirement to operate our shopping centers. Based on conservative calculations, this meant a reduction of around 32,717 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions – equating to the annual CO2 emissions of more than 1,487 two-person households. In addition, we reduce energy consumption in our shopping centers through measures such as heat exchangers and LED lighting.

Not just a roof

Using our shopping centers to protect against the impacts of climate change
What if a shopping center’s roof could be more than just a roof? A research project at the Billstedt Center in Hamburg decided to find out. The goal was to develop new technical ESG solutions to help buildings better withstand the effects of climate change.

The project addresses a key challenge: the growing frequency of extreme weather events like heatwaves and heavy rain. Researchers used the center’s roof to test how innovative, connected systems could make the building and ist local environment more resilient.

We want to make smart use of these roof spaces. Green roofs can soak up and hold rainwater, which then cools the air as it evaporates. In addition to improving the local climate, these roofs take the pressure off sewer systems during heavy storms and help to increase biodiversity in urban areas.

The study also looked at using the rooftops for sustainable food production. Rooftop farms can put these unused spaces to good use while also contributing to the local economy.

Another key part of the research was the use of digital control systems. Sensors provide weather and climate data which help the site manage its water and cooling systems, use resources more efficiently and make the center more comfortable for visitors and tenants.

We are using this project to test out new ideas under realworld conditions. What we learn will help us make our properties more sustainable and resilient against the impact of climate change in the future.

Where pleasure meets responsibility

The Food Garden as a Sustainable Habitat
The Food Garden at the Main-Taunus-Zentrum was developed with environmental, social and economic considerations in mind at every step of the process. Right from the planning and construction phases, this project was focused on reducing our environmental impact and helping us adapt to the realities of climate change.

A key element of this is our resource-efficient construction methods. Most of the buildings are made from timber. As a renewable material, timber locks in CO₂, helping us to shrink our carbon footprint. This approach gives us the flexibility we need to use the space sustainably for years to come.

We have also taken action to change how we manage water. We capture and store rainwater on-site before reusing it to care for our green spaces. Permeable paving and landscaping help our centers to absorb sudden downpours and take pressure off local drainage networks. These measures will

help us to build our resilience against extreme weather events, which are becoming increasingly common.

We are also committed to nurturing biodiversity. Our sites use over 70 native plant species to provide vital habitats for insects and other wildlife. We also take targeted action to protect wildlife, such as installing bat boxes.

We also switched to using environmentally friendly lighting. This approach involves using warm white, dimmable lighting with reduced blue light content and leaving certain areas dark to minimise light emissions and protect the natural rhythms of nocturnal animals.

These actions have a particular role to play in helping us achieve our core environmental goals, particularly in terms of climate adaptation, protecting ecosystems and using resources sustainably. The Food Garden demonstrates how modern retail spaces can meet ESG requirements while also providing an improved experience for visitors.

Social Engagement at Our Centers

We remained committed to social engagement at our shopping centers throughout the 2025 financial year. Local shopping center management leads and implements the majority of these initiatives. Our shopping centers serve as platforms for community involvement, local networking and practical everyday support.

A key factor in our success is our ability to consistently meet the needs of local people. We worked closely with associations, local initiatives and municipal partners to deliver a number of projects. These ranged from organising donation drives for children and families in need to providing support for social institutions and educational programs. Our centers got school supplies together for the start of the year, organized Christmas wish trees and provided assistance for individuals facing serious illnesses and other challenging situations. 

We make sure that visitors are actively involved in these community initiatives. Formats like donation drives and interactive campaigns allow visitors to make a tangible contribution to society as part of their visit to our centers. Programs like “Shopping with Heart” bridge the gap between commerce and compassion by letting our customers decide how donations should be divided between local projects. 

We are also committed to volunteering and fostering a stronger sense of community. We use charity events, partnerships with groups like the Lions Club and Rotaract and local volunteer exchanges to highlight opportunities to give back and bring our communities together. Our shopping centers are also evolving into community hubs where people gather to talk about the issues that matter most to them.

They also run a wide range of educational and information-sharing programs to raise public awareness of important topics. We use exhibitions, prevention campaigns and hands-on activities to bring topics like health, sustainability and social responsibility to life for a range of audiences.

These examples show that our centers play an important role in the community in addition to providing a place to shop. Our local initiatives breathe life into the community by providing financial support, shining a spotlight on important social causes and bringing shoppers into the heart of the action.

Whistleblower System

What is a whistleblower system? Compliance compact
As a listed company, it is our duty – also in the interests of our shareholders – to prevent any form of unlawful or even criminal activity within our own sphere of influence. This includes providing reporting channels so that employees and external parties can report indications of possible misconduct with ease and in the strictest confidentiality.

Major economic scandals such as the “Wirecard” case or “Dieselgate”, as it has come to be known, ensure that the topic of whistleblowing stays in the news and that legislators continue to push ahead with more and more regulations – most recently the EU Whistleblowing Directive, which in Germany has resulted in the Whistleblower Protection Act. The term “whistleblower system” appears in this context on a regular basis.

Using a whistleblower system, whistleblowers such as employees of a company or organisation, suppliers or customers can report anonymous information about observed grievances or violations of rules without fear of negative consequences. This means that whistleblowers do not have to fear termination, workplace discrimination or intimidation.

A digital whistleblower system, such as the one used by Deutsche EuroShop, is software (more precisely a Software-as-a-Service solution) that whistleblowers can use to submit a report on our website. The reporting system is therefore accessible at any time and from any location and provides a central point of contact for whistleblowers.

Reporting involves filling out a case template, which is used to gather important information. The whistleblower is free to leave their personal details or can submit the report anonymously. In the latter case, the reporting system creates a mailbox through which the caseworker can continue to communicate with the whistleblower without the need to disclose their identity. The system is easy and intuitive to use. If a tip-off is received by the Compliance Manager, they proceed to examine the case and initiate any further steps. Complete anonymity of the whistleblower can be guaranteed at all times if desired.

www.deutsche-euroshop.de/compliance