Sustainability report DNS Belgium 2023

About DNS Belgium and this report

This is DNS Belgium's CSR annual report. DNS Belgium vzw is established in the Ubicenter at the Philipssite 5/13 in Heverlee, Belgium and has no other sites. All of our staff work at this location. The organisation has no interests in other (subsidiary) companies that need to be reported.

We are committed to creating a digital and sustainable society and want to improve the trust in the internet for Belgium and Belgians. We do this through our trusted and generally recognised domain name services and the management of our domain name extensions. In all our actions the security and quality of domain name usage - and by extension the internet - come first and in doing so we try to strengthen consumer confidence in our digital society. We ensure that the domain name zones we manage are constantly available worldwide by guaranteeing permanent access to the nameservers. 

For more information about our core activities we gladly refer you to our general annual report 2023 and our financial annual report. On this page you can read more about our role in managing the internet, including a history and an overview of our value chain. Information on the structure of the organisation, corporate governance, the values and directors is available on this page of our corporate website. No conflicts of interest were identified relating to the composition of the governing body. 

This report was published in Leuven on 1 October 2024 by our sustainability manager. It is based on the sustainability strategy, the financial report and the participation and audit report to the VOKA Sustainable Business Charter. We thus contribute to achieving SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production), target 12.6 (Encourage companies to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle). This report was drawn up in the period June – October 2024. Do you have any questions about this report? Contact our sustainability coordinator via communications@dnsbelgium.be

Reporting standard

We report in accordance with the GRI Standards for the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023. We chose to use the 2021 GRI Standard.

DNS Belgium regularly communicates about its sustainability efforts and initiatives. We clearly indicate what our impact is, which risks and opportunities are connected to it and how we involve our stakeholders in this.

A CSR annual report is drawn up every year in which we report on the results achieved in the previous year, taking into account previous reporting. There are no rectifications of previously reported data.

External assurance 

This CSR report is not externally validated, nor has it been consolidated in one report. They can both be consulted online on our website. The process for drawing up the CSR annual report and the financial annual report is not simultaneous, because they highlight different aspects of the organisation and require different data and information. The audit report of the statutory auditor was submitted by the registered auditor on 13 May 2024. The general meeting approved it on 28 May 2024 and we published it on 9 July 2024.

On the website, you will find the annual reports from past years and our strategy for the years ahead. DNS Belgium’s consolidated annual accounts for 2023 include the sole entity of DNS Belgium, providing a complete overview of our activities and performance.

Governance

A risk assessment for the whole company, based on ISO 31000, is conducted every year under the direction of the Information Security Officer and includes sustainability risks. Our corporate balanced scorecard defines two sustainability KPIs:

• Sustainable organisation: 10 successful actions every year (at least one per “P”: Planet, Peace, People, Prosperity, Partnerships). In 2023 the score was 15.
• Reduce the impact of CO2 and offset actual emissions: The absolute limit for carbon emissions is 180 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year. The figure for 2023 was 124 tonnes.

The governing body was actively involved in creating this strategy and identifying its material topics, which contributed to its wide acceptance and implementation. It approved the sustainability strategy and set a high ambition level, i.e. five out of five The CEO and the sustainability manager are responsible for implementing the strategy. The sustainability risks and the impacts are reassessed every year. 

To ensure that DNS Belgium’s sustainability goals are met, the sustainability manager sets an annual budget. This budget was 372,350 euros for 2023. It is recalculated each year and comes with a budget book with the annual action plans. The governing body approves this budget and plans which provide a clear financial basis and direction for the sustainability initiatives.

The sustainability manager draws up a monthly report for the governing body to ensure transparency and accountability. This report describes the performance and results of the past month, including the progress of the sustainability goals. It keeps the governing body in the loop and allows it to make changes if necessary. The responsibility for reviewing and approving the reported information has been delegated to the sustainability manager.

Communication about current or possible negative impact

DNS Belgium values transparent communication with stakeholders about its impact. No breaches of environmental, social or labour laws were identified in 2023. No reservations were expressed in the auditor's report either. We received no reports of human rights violations or reports of negative impacts. There were no data or privacy incidents for which we had to file an external report. 

If anyone is negatively impacted by our activities or business relationships, they can report it via email to legal@dnsbelgium.be.