Case study: How Stora Enso creates economic value for its stakeholders
Stora Enso is a leading provider of renewable products in packaging, biomaterials, wooden construction and paper, and one of the largest private forest owners in the world. Long term, sustainable value creation for all its stakeholders, is a top priority for Stora Enso. Tweet This!
This case study is based on the 2021 Annual Report by Stora Enso, prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, 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
As one of the largest private forest owners in the world, with forest assets valued at EUR 8 billion, Stora Enso seeks to generate shared value for a wide range of stakeholders. In order to create economic value for its stakeholders Stora Enso took action to:
- create economic value for employees
- create economic value for suppliers
- create economic value for the public sector
- create economic value for creditors and shareholders
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Stora Enso has identified;
- How Stora Enso proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Stora Enso to create economic value for its stakeholders
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2021 Annual Report Stora Enso identified a range of material issues, such as climate change, business ethics, biodiversity, circularity, human rights. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for Stora Enso.
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 Stora Enso engages with:
| Stakeholder Group |
| Consumers |
| Customers |
| Employees |
| Forest owners |
| Policy makers |
| Investors |
| Local communities |
| Media |
| NGOs |
| Partners and suppliers |
| Trade unions |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Stora Enso engaged with its stakeholders through interviews.
What actions were taken by Stora Enso to create economic value for its stakeholders?
In its 2021 Annual Report Stora Enso reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:
- Creating economic value for employees
- In 2021, Stora Enso paid EUR 1,351 million for employee wages and benefits.
- Creating economic value for suppliers
- In 2021, Stora Enso paid EUR 6,875 million to suppliers.
- Creating economic value for the public sector
- In 2021, Stora Enso paid EUR 1,184 million in taxes borne and collected.
- Creating economic value for creditors and shareholders
- In 2021, Stora Enso paid EUR 127 million in interest to creditors and EUR 237 million in dividends to shareholders.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed
Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.1, 8.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Targets: 9.1, 9.4, 9.5
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References:
This case study is based on published information by Stora Enso, 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 following link:
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