Case study: How PTT respects and promotes human rights
PTT Public Company Limited, or PTT, is a national energy company that was established to ensure national energy security for Thailand. PTT is determined to operate responsibly, respect human rights and take a stand to protect stakeholders’ rights in every activity. Tweet This!
This case study is based on the 2019 Corporate Sustainability Report by PTT published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
PTT is committed to operating on the foundations of good governance principles and respect for human rights. In order to respect and promote human rights PTT took action to:
- announce a PTT Human Rights Statement
- review the PTT Group Human Rights Management System
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) PTT has identified;
- How PTT proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by PTT to respect and promote human rights
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2019 Corporate Sustainability Report PTT identified a range of material issues, such as sustainable governance, human capital development, product stewardship, climate change, research, development and innovation. Among these, respecting and promoting human rights stands out as a key material issue for MPC.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups PTT engages with:
To identify and prioritise material topics PTT engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Country | · Consultation with public sector monthly · Site visit of PTT’s operational sites monthly · Seminar and workshops to enhance understanding with public sector quarterly |
| Community and Society
| · Community development activities in ‘People’ and ‘Planet’ dimensions · Promotion of social and social enterprises projects in 3 aspects, comprising learning centre development, local product support, and energy development for community · PTT Contact Centre 1365, PTT Website or email |
| Shareholders
| · PTT website under “Investor Relations” or email · PTT Debenture application for bond holders to review their own bond details, activity registration, points collection for special awards · Monthly activity for bond holders, such as PTT Group’s site visit and seminars on economic topics · Annual general meeting · International roadshow to meet and advise non-Thai investors |
| Customers | · Annual customer seminar · Sales’ and executives’ regular client meeting according to stipulated plan · PTT Contact Centre 1365 |
| Suppliers | · Annual customer seminar · Grievance on corruption through email |
| Employees
| · Acknowledgement of employees’ feedback to develop response plan for employees’ needs, and key competencies to accommodate new businesses throughout the year · Business relation committee on a monthly basis · CEO, Managing Director and high-level executives meet with all employee levels according to plan |
What actions were taken by PTT to respect and promote human rights?
In its 2019 Corporate Sustainability Report PTT reports that it took the following actions for respecting and promoting human rights:
- Announcing a PTT Human Rights Statement
- In 2019, PTT’s President and Chief Executive Officer announced the PTT Human Rights Statement. The statement demonstrates PTT’s strong commitment in operating businesses with full respect to human rights. It highlights right protection for all stakeholder groups, as well as disseminating human rights management to suppliers and other relevant parties. PTT has also signed to demonstrate support to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)’s CEO Guide to Human Rights. The gesture indicates PTT Group’s commitment to drive human rights performance in alignment across the entire PTT Group.
- Reviewing the PTT Group Human Rights Management System
- PTT has reviewed the PTT Group Human Rights Management System, deployed since 2017. The Management System’s addition includes guidelines for corporate governance, compliance, and assessment of human rights impacts towards stakeholders. The recent supplement has been approved and deployed by the Corporate Governance Committee. The scope of PTT Group’s human rights due diligence has also been adjusted to fit PTT Group Way of Conduct. There are 15 subsidiaries operating in compliance with the PTT Group Human Rights Management System, altogether accumulating to 30 areas across 14 countries. Key human rights risks identified in PTT Group’s business operations consisted of occupational health and safety, migrant workers, security, suppliers’ labour practice, community’s quality of life, and indigenous people’s lives. However, PTT Group’s human rights risk level, per the 2019 risk assessment, remains in the range of low to moderate. Such a result is due to the development of a human rights management plan and the utilisation of control measures suitable for each area. There is quarterly monitoring on the operations to make sure risks remain within risk appetite. The monitoring also ascertains that control measures are executed with maximum efficiency. Furthermore, there are seminars organised on global trends and PTT Group’s readiness to directions of human rights management at an international scale for PTT Board, Executives and relevant employees. There are also trainings on sustainability management, encompassing fundamental human rights training for employees related to human rights performance. (There was a total of 47 participants, with total training time at 11 hours.) Due to the continuous and tangible efforts and the annual performance disclosure according to the United Nations Global Compact’s 10 Principles, there were no human rights grievances filed in 2019.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 412-1 Operations that have been subject to human rights reviews or impact assessments
2) Disclosure 412-2 Employee training on human rights policies or procedures
Disclosure 412-1 Operations that have been subject to human rights reviews or impact assessments does not correspond to any SDG
Disclosure 412-2 Employee training on human rights policies or procedures does not correspond to any SDG.
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by PTT, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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