Building sustainable markets, together

Climate change is a factor that all businesses and people need to consider in order to thrive in a changing global economy, and for which, decarbonisation and an energy transition will be essential in the coming years. As EEX Group, we are committed to facilitating these efforts through the products and services we offer, as well as how we operate our business and engage our communities.

Sustainability at EEX Group

At EEX Group, we consider sustainability as core to what we offer to our customers, our staff, and wider society. Every year, we introduce products and services that ensure transparency and build trust in new energy solutions for a low-carbon future. At the same time, we are committed to reducing our operational footprint, while expanding our workplace offerings to include diverse talent. Teams from across our global offices come together to work on sustainability initiatives, build customer offerings, and contribute to charitable causes.

^{Scope 1: Direct emissions (e.g. fuels used for combustion, company car fleet)
Scope 2: Indirect emissions from energy use (mainly electricity and heating)
Scope 3: Indirect emissions from business (e.g. flights, hotel stays, transport)}

Since 2021, we have increased the scope of our emissions reporting. Our 2022 and 2023 figures reflect newly added carbon footprint contributors, such as data centers, new office locations, and our growing number of staff. At the same time, we saw business travel increase between 2021 and 2022 after flight and event restrictions were reduced, even though our travel intensity did not return to pre-Covid pandemic levels. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, we have introduced a remote-friendly work environment that preferences video calls and land-based travel to reduce the necessity for flights. As we continue to grow, our absolute emissions will likely increase as well in the short-term. For this reason, we have chosen to measure our carbon intensity per employee to reflect the improvements made through emissions reductions efforts. 

Our People

At EEX Group, we are continuously striving to create a positive and inspiring environment for the people we work with, internally, externally, and in the wider society. In addition to financial success and environmental considerations, we are continuously improving our social initiatives. Below, you can learn more about our annual and ongoing programs. 

Corporate Social Responsibility

EEX Group has dedicated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives through sponsorship, donations, and volunteering programmes. We have a sponsorship policy and commitment to supporting non-profit organisations that are active in sports, the arts, education, and society in harmony. In addition, our annual company-wide fundraisers support a variety of causes, such as the Hearts Race in 2023 and Wings for Life in 2024. We also build community service into our events, partnering with local non-profits to engage with elderly communities, underprivileged groups, as well as environmental restoration, and more. Finally, we support staff-led initiatives, such as used item and IT equipment donations to local charities for people in need. 

Work-life balance 

Our employees are our strongest asset. In recognition of this, we aim to support flexible work arrangements and the physical and mental well-being of our staff. We offer parental benefits, routine eye check services, a remote-friendly work environment including working abroad, and part-time arrangements, amongst others. In addition, we review our employee satisfaction through a group-wide annual survey.   

At the same time, we organise learning opportunities and activities for our staff to thrive in their professional and personal lives. For example, we organise regular sports activities, company-wide Health Days, and team events to help individuals develop skills and a sense of belonging within the EEX Group family. You can find out more about our benefits on our careers page.  

Diversity and inclusion 

EEX Group is continuously expanding our initiatives so that more of our diverse colleagues can be recognised, represented, and supported. As a global company, we recognise that we have employees with different gender identities, nationalities, ethnic origins, religious beliefs, abilities and disabilities, and sexual orientations. We aim to provide an environment where individuals can feel included, voice their needs, and initiate changes. With this spirit in mind, our employees created Women at EEX, and we have increased our share of women in leadership positions – our Experts, Heads of Units, and Directors – from 29% to 33% between 2021 and 2023 at the Group level. In 2023, the company welcomed the formation of employee resource groups for our LGBTQ and international employees. 

EEX Group continues to be active as a signatory of the “Charta der Vielfalt”, together with 5000 companies from all across Germany. This employer initiative serves to promote diversity in companies and institutions.

Our Products

EEX Group builds business environments that facilitate the energy transition and decarbonisation through financial means and regulated markets. As a market builder and trading platform provider, we believe in the power of the markets and that they can provide the best available options for partners at every stage of their path toward sustainability. Operating at the intersection of finance and energy sectors, we focus on building successful and secure market ecosystems by working with great people who are building products, services, and related tools for decarbonisation – both within EEX Group and our partners. 

We at EEX Group bring expertise into building renewable and sustainable energy markets, carbon markets, and complementary tools. In addition, we facilitate transparency, price formation, and trust in order to pave the way for the adoption of new energy solutions for a low-carbon future. Across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, we strive to create a facilitating environment for emerging solutions such as voluntary carbon markets or hydrogen, allowing both the demand and supply sides to confidently navigate new markets by providing indices as a guiding light for prices. In addition, we enable transparency for power generation through our registry services, increasing confidence in the genuine origin of energy and heating sources, such as biogas, solar, hydro, and other renewable sources.

Building renewable and sustainable energy markets 

We create financial instruments that allow for the increased integration of renewables in order to accelerate societal adoption of more sustainable energy solutions. In recent years, we have developed PPAs for long-term investment security, and tradable products on short-term (spot) markets to accommodate the fluctuating nature of renewables on existing grids. Through our power futures product suite, we facilitate long-term PPA hedging on the exchange, supporting the transition to a subsidy-free renewable power market. Find out more about this here. 

At the same time, we are building products and related tools to support the development of additional fuels to meet demands for the energy transition. In 2023, EEX launched the world’s first market-based green hydrogen index (HYDRIX) and has developed a trading platform for hydrogen markets. 

Building markets and tools for decarbonisation 

We are proud to be offering market-based products, tools, and services for decarbonisation, including ones used by governments as part of their emissions trading systems (ETS). Since 2010, EEX has been operating spot and derivatives markets within the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and running the EU ETS auctions for its member states. In 2023, the EU ETS raised 43.56 billion euros in revenue on behalf of the participating member states, which can be used for climate and innovation funds, and as of 2024, it has expanded to cover industries such as maritime. In recent years, EEX has also been operating the sell-off platform for the German fuel ETS (nEHS). We also support governments to develop their ETS, such as working with the New Zealand Exchange (NZX) to operate the managed auction service for New Zealand's ETS (NZ ETS). and in early 2024, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with EPİAŞ in Türkiye for the development and implementation of a Turkish ETS. Finally, we offer the world’s largest suite of unique environmental contracts in the US market through Nodal Exchange. Learn more about our environmental markets here. 

Facilitating market transparency and trust  

Trust, transparency, and traceability are key to driving large-scale adoption of new energy solutions. In 2023, over 5,800 TWh of Guarantees of Origins (GOs) for renewable energy were sold. Guarantees of Origin (GOs) provide transparent tracking for renewable energy within the EU to promote the production and consumption of more sustainable energy sources, such as renewable electricity, biogas, and hydrogen to name a few. We offer services across the whole registries’ value chain from providing unique services to issuing bodies across Europe as well as providing trading solutions for GOs. Our Group company, Grexel, is the leading registries provider in Europe, with registry solutions focused on, but not limited to, GOs in 15 countries. In addition, EEX is the French issuing body for power GOs and operates the associated primary auctions. Furthermore, EPEX SPOT operates pan-European power GO auctions, which take place monthly.  

Trust-building mechanisms can also extend beyond traceability, to include products that facilitate energy efficiency and transparent price signalling. Since 2018, EEX has been operating the French registry for energy savings certificates. Last year, EEX’s price signal tools and indices grew to include Europe GO, Europe Hydro, Europe Wind, Europe Solar, Nordic Hydro, HYDRIX, and the Global Carbon Index Family. Learn more about our registry services here.