METRO : Climate Protection

Climate protection at METRO

Climate change presents METRO with both risks and opportunities. Physical risks can have a direct or indirect impact on our business. For example, changes in the amount or frequency of precipitation can affect the prices and availability of agricultural products. For example, 2024 was the warmest year since records began and the first year in which the global average annual temperature was 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Overall, extreme weather events are increasing. This can lead to crop losses and thus have an impact on the operation of our sites.

We counter these risks, for example, by creating the necessary structures through our procurement and supply chain management to ensure the availability of goods at all times. Among other things, we invest in technical measures to save energy, in energy management systems in accordance with ISO 50001, in switching to coolants that are less harmful to the climate and in programs to change the behaviour of each individual employee. In addition, we are committed to more sustainable, lower CO2procurement of products in order to contribute to reducing CO2in the value chain.

Our aim is to see sustainability as an opportunity. Not only will its global importance continue to grow, but the expectations of customers, employees, investors, politicians and society regarding climate-friendly products and business processes will also increase. Consistent implementation of our sustainability strategy is therefore necessary from both an ecological and economic perspective. We are investing in meeting our climate protection targets and actively driving forward the sustainable transformation of our value chains. And by consistently integrating climate protection targets into our sCore growth strategy, we are demonstrating that profitability and sustainability can work together.

As part of our participation in the CDP Climate Change Survey, we have been providing public information on our climate protection strategy, the risks and opportunities arising from climate change and emissions management since 2006.

Carbon footprint and climate protection target

In 2015, the global community agreed in Paris to limit global warming to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. The

1.5 degree target was underpinned by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) in 2018 and is the focus of the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) and upcoming EU legislation.

To achieve this goal, a significant reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions is necessary. METRO is constantly reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and has been a member of the SBTi since 2019. In June 2025, the science-based targets were updated in accordance with the SBTi standards.

METRO is committed to the following targets1:

• Reduction of Scope 1 emissions2- and Scope 2 emissions(3) by 42 % by 2030 (BY: 2019/2020)

• Reduction of Scope 3 emissions(4) (Value chain without FLAG5) by 25 % by 2030 (BY: 2021/22)

• Reduction of Scope 3 emissions (FLAG value chain) by 30.3% by 2030 (BY: 2021/2022)

In addition, METRO wants to achieve net-zero by 2050.

Methodology and reporting boundaries

Our reporting is based on the Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard and the Corporate Value Chain Accounting and Reporting Standard of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. With the help of the Group-wide carbon accounting process introduced in 2011, we record the Group-wide consumption data for the aforementioned emission sources. We report the overall impact of all greenhouse gas emissions in the form of CO2equivalents in order to assess the impact of other greenhouse gases in addition to CO2. Since 2011, the carbon footprint has been subject to a business audit by KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft.

In 2025, we expanded the focus of CO2reporting in the area of Scope 3 elements. The carbon footprint of our product range sold, PCF = Product Carbon Footprint, plays a dominant role in this.

We take into account the sales volumes in kilograms based on the products sold, compare these product groups with individual emission factors and calculate a CO2value.

As a source for the emission factors, we refer to various established secondary databases. This extended approach enables us to guarantee comprehensive reporting.