What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2021 Sustainability Report Xylem identified a range of material issues, such as social impact solutions, water use reduction and stewardship, environmental impact solutions, watermark and direct community impact. Among these, promoting sustainability among its suppliers stands out as a key material issue for Xylem.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

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 Xylem engages with:

Stakeholder Group

Employees

Customers

Shareholders

Investors

Suppliers

Partners

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Xylem engaged with its stakeholders through surveys.

What actions were taken by Xylem to promote sustainability among its suppliers?

In its 2021 Sustainability Report Xylem reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainability among its suppliers:

• Implementing a Supplier Code of Conduct
• Xylem’s standard of excellence in ethics applies to all its suppliers, who are required to strictly adhere to Xylem’s Supplier Code of Conduct. Consistent with Xylem’s procurement processes, all suppliers are required to act in accordance with its business standards, product quality, process capabilities and commitment to sustainability. Additionally, Xylem launched its CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) Supply Chain programme in 2021, inviting more than 120 suppliers to calculate and disclose GHG emissions and water usage. Xylem closed the disclosure cycle achieving an 80% response rate, with almost 25% of its supply base by spend disclosing their GHG emissions and/or water usage.

• Assessing suppliers’ sustainability performance
• Since 2020, Xylem has partnered with EcoVadis to assess the performance of its supply base on Labour and Human Rights, Environment, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement. With this programme, Xylem seeks to increase its transparency and help suppliers track and improve their performance year over year. In 2021, Xylem started reviewing scorecards with its suppliers and requested Corrective Action Plans from suppliers with scores below expectations. By the end of 2021, 69% of the suppliers who were re-evaluated had improved their score and 15% remained stable. Additionally, Xylem invested in a new tool to map sustainability risk, by industry and country, for 80% of its supply base by spend.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria

2) Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria

 

Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.

References:

This case study is based on published information by Xylem, 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:

https://www.xylem.com/siteassets/sustainability/2021/xylem-sustainability-report-2021.pdf

Note to Xylem: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2021 Sustainability Report Bechtle identified a range of material issues, such as information security and data protection, energy consumption and emissions, anti-corruption and anti-bribery, people development. Among these, promoting sustainability across its supply chain stands out as a key material issue for Verizon.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

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 Bechtle engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Owners/shareholders	·      Annual General Meeting ·      Biannual events ·      Roadshows and investor conferences ·      Announcements, press releases, the Annual Report, half-yearly reports and quarterly statements
Employees	·      E-mail ·      Intranet ·      Digital employee magazine ·      Weekly employee blog ·      Employee satisfaction surveys
Customers (enterprise and public sectors)	·      Customer fairs and events ·      Social media channels, website and both online and hardcopy editions of the customer magazine
Suppliers/partners	·      Vendor Integrated Product Managers ·      Personal exchanges
General public	·      Communications channels and various publications ·      Bitkom industry association

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Bechtle engaged with its stakeholders through interviews.

What actions were taken by Bechtle to promote sustainability across its supply chain?

In its 2021 Sustainability Report Bechtle reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainability across its supply chain:

• Implementing a Supplier Code of Conduct
• In 2014, Bechtle’s Purchasing and Legal departments designed a Supplier Code of Conduct for suppliers of goods and services as a control mechanism. This code is based on the principles and minimum requirements of the ILO Convention of Core Labour Standards. All newly contracted suppliers are requested by Purchasing to sign this Code of Conduct on an annual basis or to supply their own equivalent documentation. As of 31 December 2021, 189 suppliers and vendors have signed the Bechtle Supplier Code of Conduct. As in the previous year, 39 suppliers and vendors presented their own policies, which overlap with Bechtle’s own code in all essential respects. Combined, these represent 93 per cent of Bechtle’s purchasing volume.

• Promoting compliance
• To monitor its suppliers’ compliance with social and labour standards, Bechtle has been focusing on examining supplier-provided documentation on a project-related basis, such as audit and inspection or sustainability reports. Bechtle’s Sustainability Management regularly checks if any of its key suppliers have been flagged by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. Over the course of the reporting year, Supplier Management canvassed a variety of ways for Bechtle to monitor compliance with social and ecological standards along its supply chain in a reliable fashion. In the end, Bechtle chose EcoVadis as the way forward, meaning direct suppliers could be evaluated according to social and ecological criteria through a documents-based supplier audit. EcoVadis was used for this purpose beginning in the second quarter of 2022, with the results directly informing CSR risk management. In order to better perform due diligence with regard to human rights, and for the purpose of ongoing professionalisation of CSR risk analyses, Bechtle also solicited the advice of the German National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP). Through extensive evaluations, as well as an in-person and a virtual training seminar, Bechtle drew on support provided by the NAP Help Desk to lay the foundation for a realigned CSR risk analysis and, thus, its overall CSR risk management.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria

2) Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

3) Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

 

Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

This case study is based on published information by Bechtle, 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:

https://www.bechtle.com/dam/jcr:8b2751e9-aeaa-42fe-889b-fbc6d74aa480/bechtle-sustainability-report-2021-en.pdf

Note to Bechtle: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2021 ESG Report Verizon identified a range of material issues, such as climate change, data protection and privacy, talent attraction and retention, digital inclusion. Among these, promoting sustainability among its suppliers stands out as a key material issue for Verizon.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

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 Verizon engages with:

Stakeholder Group

Employees

Customers

Shareholders

Society

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Verizon engaged with its stakeholders through interviews.

What actions were taken by Verizon to promote sustainability among its suppliers?

In its 2021 ESG Report Verizon reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainability among its suppliers:

• Implementing a Supplier Code of Conduct
• Verizon expects all its suppliers to comply with its Supplier Code of Conduct or an equivalent set of standards. Verizon’s Supplier Code of Conduct sets forth its expectations for its suppliers and the subcontractors and agents of suppliers. The Supplier Code includes provisions that:
  • Forbid the use of child labour and forced labour.
  • Protect employees’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, as permitted by local laws.
  • Prohibit discrimination on any basis prohibited by applicable/local law, including, without limitation, race, colour, religion, age, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, national origin, disability, marital status, citizenship status, veteran status or military status.
• Verizon reserves the right to review or audit its suppliers’ compliance with the Supplier Code and also incorporates ongoing compliance into its business relationships and procurement decisions.

• Applying a Supplier Risk Management Programme
• Verizon’s Supplier Risk Management Programme supports the company’s implementation of responsible sourcing. Established in 2018, and managed by a dedicated team in Verizon’s Supplier Risk Office, the programme enables Verizon to identify, assess, monitor and manage a range of supply chain-related risks, including those that may be associated with the social and environmental impacts of supplier activity. The Supplier Risk Office works closely with other teams throughout the company, including the BHRP (Business and Human Rights Programme), Business Risk, Compliance, Sourcing and Sustainability to implement a risk management framework that allows Verizon to continually assess and manage supplier-related risks. This work happens throughout the supplier life cycle, including: planning, due diligence, contracting, ongoing monitoring and termination. The Supplier Risk Office is responsible for programme oversight, coordination and support to stakeholders throughout Verizon.

• Evaluating suppliers’ performance
• In 2021, Verizon continued its partnership with EcoVadis. Verizon uses EcoVadis’s assessment tool to evaluate suppliers’ responsible performance. Verizon monitors and assesses supplier performance in four areas:
  • Environment
  • Labour and human rights
  • Ethics
  • Sustainable procurement
• Since 2013, Verizon has assessed 530 key suppliers through this partnership. EcoVadis validates suppliers’ responses to their detailed questionnaire and researches information from other public sources to benchmark suppliers on their performance. When weaknesses are identified, Verizon works with the supplier to create a corrective action plan to improve their current activities. Both Verizon and its suppliers benefit from this partnership.

• Auditing suppliers
• Verizon is a member of the Joint Audit Cooperation (JAC), an association of telecom operators that collaboratively audits common vendors and looks for opportunities to improve supplier responsibility across the industry. This furthers Verizon’s efforts to understand not only what its suppliers are pledging through their policies but also to survey on-site performance. JAC audits are based on a common verification, assessment and development methodology, including the generation of corrective action plans. Topics covered by these audits include: child labour, forced labour, health and safety, freedom of association, non-discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours, wages and compensation, the environment and business ethics. Through 2021, 812 supplier audits had been completed since JAC’s inception in 2010, with 88 audits completed in 2021.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria

2) Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria

 

Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

This case study is based on published information by Verizon, 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:

https://www.verizon.com/about/sites/default/files/Verizon-2021-ESG-Report.pdf

Note to Verizon: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2021 Sustainability Report TVO identified a range of material issues, such as risk and crisis management, corporate governance and business ethics, safety and occupational health, business performance and growth capability. Among these, promoting sustainable procurement stands out as a key material issue for TVO.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process s 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 TVO engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Employees	·      Internal communication (Intranet and E-mail) ·      Opinion box ·      Meeting of the welfare committee in the workplace ·      Team Building Activities ·      Channels for whistleblowing
Customers and Consumers	·      Meetings and discussions ·      Seminar training ·      Education and relation activities ·      Knowledge communication via social media (www.facebook. com/AngoonHeartClub) ·      Satisfaction survey ·      Channels for recommendations or complaints
Suppliers	·      Annual Meeting ·      Conference Meeting ·      Channels for recommendations or complaints
Shareholders	·      Annual General Meeting of Shareholders ·      Analyst meeting quarterly (4 times) ·      Opportunity Day, financial performance 2020 organised by The Stock Exchange of Thailand ·      Meetings with institutional analysts and analysts (17 times) ·      Meeting with institutional investors at TISCO Exclusive Talk 2021 organised by TISCO Securities Co., Ltd. ·      Meeting with institutional investors at the Finansia Online investment conference organised by Finansia Securities PCL ·      Meeting with institutional investors at the Thailand Corporate Virtual Conference Event: CLSA Thailand Access Day organised by CLSA Securities (Thailand) Co., Ltd. ·      Conference call (virtual meeting) in Commodities Theme organised by Maybank Kim Eng Securities (Thailand) PCL ·      Providing information and meeting with the media throughout the year (3 times) ·      Channels for recommendations or complaints ·      Channels for whistleblowing
Community & Society	·      The community relations team visits and listens to suggestions and complaints ·      Meetings with community leaders and government agencies ·      Participation in preserving local cultural traditions ·      Channels for recommendations or complaints
Competitors	·      Channels for recommendations or complaints
Government agencies	·      Meeting and seminars supporting ·      Participation in government projects

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics TVO engaged with its stakeholders through meetings, dialogues, trainings, seminars and questionnaires.

What actions were taken by TVO to promote sustainable procurement?

In its 2021 Sustainability Report TVO reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainable procurement:

• Implementing a Supplier Code of Conduct
• TVO communicates with domestic and international suppliers to ensure their acknowledgment of the “Supplier Code of Conduct”, which covers human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption issues. The Code includes respecting, complying with the law and related regulations as a guideline for the business cooperation between both parties. It also helps to make sure that the business processes of TVO and suppliers are in line with sustainable development guidelines. Additionally, in 2021, TVO adjusted a new supplier registration document by adding some issues related to ESG, such as employment and labour practices covering Child Labour, Forced Labour, Safety, Occupational Health and Environmental Management, Good Corporate Governance, Anti-Corruption, and other systems related to, for example, the environment or safety. TVO delivered these document to all new suppliers through a self-declaration process. TVO will gradually review the existing suppliers every 2 years, to ensure that this is part of a comprehensive assessment approach to both ESG and human rights issues related to its suppliers.

• Carrying out economic, social and environmental risk assessments
• Predicting the environmental factors that may affect raw material procurement, such as the impact of COVID-19 on cargo transportation, change of seasons, harvest time, quality and price, TVO brings in the process of the supplier’s sustainability risk assessment economically, socially, and environmentally into selecting reliable suppliers. The selection process ensures that suppliers are certified on the traceability of the raw materials obtained in line with good governance principles. For example, do not negatively impact society and the environment, do not infringe on forests, do not use child labour, violate human rights regulations, etc.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria

2) Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria

 

Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

This case study is based on published information by TVO, 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:

https://www.tvothai.com/themes/tvothai/downloads/sd-report/20220825-131014-tvo-sd-2564-en-output-low-z.pdf

Note to TVO: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified? 

In its 2021 Sustainability Report First Solar identified a range of material issues, such as ethics and compliance, energy and emissions, circular economy, sustainable products and innovation. Among these, promoting responsible sourcing stands out as a key material issue for First Solar.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

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 First Solar engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Employees	·      Training Sessions ·      Meetings ·      Newsletters ·      Surveys ·      Global Webcasts ·      Sustainability Ambassador programme
Customers/ Technical Advisors	·      Meetings ·      Seminars & Conferences ·      Technical Workshops ·      Product Presentations
Investors/ Shareholders	·      Meetings ·      Earnings Calls ·      Analyst Days ·      NSF 457 standard development
Local Communities	·      Meetings & Town Councils ·      Presentations to Community Organisations ·      School Visits ·      Local Tours ·      Training Programmes
Government/ Regulators	·      Meetings & Hearings ·      Conference Presentations ·      Seminars & Workshops ·      Committees ·      Tax Audits
NGOs	·      External Surveys ·      Partnerships ·      Group Meetings ·      Workshops ·      Standards development
Scientific Community	·      Conferences ·      Workshops ·      Meetings ·      Working Groups ·      Technical Seminars ·      Collaboration ·      Peer Reviews ·      Standards development

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics First Solar engaged with its stakeholders through internal and external interviews with associates, management, customers and investors.

What actions were taken by First Solar to promote responsible sourcing?

In its 2021 Sustainability Report First Solar reports that it took the following actions for promoting responsible sourcing:

• Screening suppliers
• All new First Solar suppliers undergo a rigorous qualification process using a balanced scorecard which focuses on Quality, Cost, Flexibility, Service, Technology and Sustainability. First Solar regularly maps its supply base and conducts an assessment to identify potential high-risk suppliers based on industry and geography by using third-party indexes on global slavery, forced labour and other ESG (environmental, social and governance) aspects.

• Promoting compliance
• Under the terms of First Solar’s master supplier contracts, suppliers must represent and warrant that they will not use child, slave, prisoner or any other form of forced or involuntary labour, or engage in abusive employment in the supply of goods or provisions of services. Suppliers are also required to comply with all fair labour standard laws, First Solar’s Code of Conduct and Corporate Policies, as well as the RBA (Responsible Business Alliance) Code of Conduct.

• Auditing suppliers
• First Solar audits new and high-risk suppliers on environmental management, health and safety, labour, human rights, and ethics by leveraging the RBA Code of Conduct as a framework. In 2021, First Solar became a member of the Responsible Business Alliance, which gives it access to their advanced due diligence tools and programmes, and will enable First Solar to conduct third-party audits of potential high-risk suppliers by leveraging their Validated Assessment Programme (VAP) — a leading standard for onsite compliance verification and effective, shareable audits. First Solar also publicly reports on the environmental and social performance of the suppliers it audits in its sustainability report.

• Providing training
• First Solar provides Transparency across Supply Chain training to all associates involved in procurement. The training includes the following objectives: recognising and communicating awareness of human trafficking risks relevant to First Solar’s business; ensuring compliance with the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (SB 657) and global human rights regulations; and identifying and avoiding trafficked labour in each specific business unit at First Solar.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria

2) Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

3) Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria

4) Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

 

Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria corresponds to:

• ustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

This case study is based on published information by First Solar, 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:

https://www.firstsolar.com/es-CSA/-/media/First-Solar/Sustainability-Documents/FirstSolar_Sustainability-Report_2021.ashx

Note to First Solar: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified? 

In its 2021 Annual Report Randstad identified a range of material issues, such as business ethics, human rights, occupational health & safety, data security and privacy. Among these, promoting responsible procurement stands out as a key material issue for Randstad.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

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 Randstad engages with:

Stakeholder Group

Clients

Employees

Talent

Investors

Public organisations

Suppliers

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Randstad engaged with its stakeholders through interviews and workshops.

What actions were taken by Randstad to promote responsible procurement?

In its 2021 Annual Report Randstad reports that it took the following actions for promoting responsible procurement:

• Implementing a Supplier Code
• Randstad’s Supplier Code is an integral part of its international terms and conditions and aims to ensure that the procurement of goods and services takes place in a socially responsible manner and in conformity with its business principles. In this code, Randstad explicitly requests that its suppliers respect its regulatory, social, and ecological principles, and adopt practices consistent with those principles. Suppliers must ensure that their own suppliers and subcontractors also respect the principles set out in the code. This requires them to comply with human rights, the ILO (International Labour Organization) principles regarding labour and anti-bribery and corruption legislation and international treaties, and to ensure safe working conditions in accordance with Randstad’s health & safety policy. Randstad consults with suppliers periodically in order to verify compliance with the code. If deemed necessary, Randstad may have an audit conducted at the supplier’s premises. The Supplier Code was revised in 2021, and is published on Randstad’s website.

• Appointing a Chief Procurement Officer
• In 2021, Randstad appointed a Chief Procurement Officer (CPO), with the ambition to build a world-class procurement function to make a positive, organisation-wide impact through innovation, supply risk management, and environmental responsibility, as well as ensuring cost efficiency and contributing to growth. This can only be achieved with a strong, professional, committed and trustful supply chain. The CPO reports directly to the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) and will drive the Executive Board’s agenda related to supplier engagement. In line with its commitment to the SBTi’s net-zero standard, Randstad’s ambition is to engage with its suppliers on reducing emissions as well.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria

2) Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

3) Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria

4) Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

 

Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

This case study is based on published information by Randstad, 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:

https://www.randstad.com/s3fs-media/rscom/public/2022-02/randstad-annual-report-2021.pdf

Note to Randstad: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified? 

In its 2020 Sustainability Report Sadara identified a range of material issues, such as emergency and crisis planning, business ethics, natural resources management, environmental protection, process safety. Among these, promoting sustainability among its suppliers stands out as a key material issue for Sadara.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

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 Sadara engages with:

To identify and prioritise material topics Sadara engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Owners	·      Quarterly meeting
Regulators & Governmental Entities	·      Weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly meetings ·      Official communications
Employees & Families	·      Town hall meetings ·      Engagement surveys ·      Social programmes
Community	·      Market disclosures ·      Social programmes ·      Events & campaigns
Media	·      Official contacts ·      Disclosures ·      Media conferences
Lenders & Insurance Auditors	·      Weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly meetings
Licensors	·      Official communication channels
Customers	·      Monthly, quarterly and yearly meetings ·      Marketing campaigns ·      Business analysis and surveys
Suppliers	·      Weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly meetings ·      Constant support ·      Development frequent meetings
Neighbouring Industry	·      Periodical meetings ·      Best practice exchange meetings ·      Emergency response support
Associations	·      Emails ·      Meetings ·      Conferences
3rd Parties Contractors	·      Memberships ·      Development meetings ·      Annual surveys
Competitors	·      Professional meetings ·      Forums and conferences ·      Associations meetings

What actions were taken by Sadara to promote sustainability among its suppliers?

In its 2020 Sustainability Report Sadara reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainability among its suppliers:

• Promoting environmental sustainability
• Sadara suppliers agree to use their best efforts to prevent, and take all reasonable precautions to avoid, pollution or contamination of the land, air or water arising from them or their subcontractors’ activities. Also, Sadara’s Procurement Department obligates suppliers to comply with regulations issued under or by international environmental conventions and regulatory bodies that Saudi Arabia adopts.

• Protecting suppliers’ workforce rights
• It is a condition in Sadara’s standard contracting template that suppliers must promptly pay their personnel their salaries and benefits and that those suppliers shall submit a letter with each invoice to Sadara’s representative in an acceptable format certifying that all the suppliers’ personnel have been paid their full salaries and benefits under the terms of their agreements with the suppliers for the preceding month.

• Implementing a Suppliers’ Code of Conduct
• Sadara has developed its Suppliers’ Code of Conduct (or “Suppliers’ Code”), which specifically addresses areas where the company requires complete and continuous compliance and for which it will exhibit no tolerance of violations. The Sadara Supplier’s Code is intended and designed to provide the company’s suppliers with guidelines on what Sadara requires as appropriate ethical conduct in the marketplace and in dealing with other business entities and government agencies. The Supplier’s Code does not replace the supplier’s contractual agreements with Sadara, or company policies or applicable laws, but rather augments those obligations and provides suppliers with a focus on key areas where Sadara requires full compliance. Compliance with the provisions of the Supplier’s Code is a contractual obligation that suppliers are required to enter when being considered for doing business with Sadara.

• Assessing suppliers
• Sadara verifies and monitors its suppliers by means of formal assessment and audit programmes. Assessments administered through the Pre-qualification Committee consist of a cross-functional team that can holistically assess a supplier’s suitability to be approved as pre-qualified for a goods/service grouping. The EHS (environment, health and safety) assessment programme is one of the
main assessment tools for the pre-qualification committee, focusing on: HSE Policy Statement, HSE SMART Objectives, HSE Training Matrix, HSE Audit Procedure, and Copies of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 or OHSAS 18001 relevant to the company.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria

2) Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria

 

Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

This case study is based on published information by Sadara, 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:

https://www.sadara.com/en/About/Citizenship

Note to Sadara: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?   

In its 2021 Annual Report Pandox identified a range of material issues, such as business ethics and anti-corruption, reduced climate impact through reduced GHG emissions, increased use of sustainable materials, reduced waste and increased recycling/ reuse. Among these, promoting sustainability among its suppliers stands out as a key material issue for Pandox.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

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 Pandox engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Hotel guests	·      Survey
Tenants	·      Survey/interview
The community	·      Survey/interview
Suppliers	·      Survey/interview
Analysts	·      Interview
Investors	·      Survey/interview
Shareholders	·      Survey/interview
Board of Directors	·      Survey/interview
Executive management team	·      Survey
Hotel employees	·      Survey
General managers	·      Survey
Employees: head office and Property Management	·      Survey

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Pandox engaged with its stakeholders through interviews and surveys.

What actions were taken by Pandox to promote sustainability among its suppliers?

In its 2021 Annual Report Pandox reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainability among its suppliers:

• Implementing a Code of Conduct
• Pandox’s Code of Conduct for business partners describes Pandox’s expectations from its suppliers concerning human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption, and is based on the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

• Verifying existing suppliers
• Pandox’s existing suppliers fill out a self-assessment form. During 2021, Pandox initiated a dialogue with suppliers whose performance was in the lowest 10 percent of respondents based on the most recent self-assessment form. The purpose is to support them to work more professionally and in a structured way on critical sustainability topics. All suppliers categorised as high-risk in Property Management who participated in a training workshop in 2020 went through the digital self-assessment process again. The result was that 53 percent went from being assessed as high-risk suppliers to low-risk suppliers. They achieved this by strengthening their sustainability policies and processes by, for example, producing a code of conduct or an anti-corruption policy. In autumn 2021 Pandox decided to expand its auditing of existing suppliers to include the 150 largest suppliers at the corporate level as identified in the 2020 spend analysis. A total of 82 suppliers were audited in 2021 based on environmental and social criteria as well as governance. 37 of these were identified as high-risk suppliers. Pandox will take steps to follow up on these and then allow them to repeat the assessment to ensure compliance with Pandox’s Code of Conduct for business partners. The results of the 2021 self-assessment showed that there was a need for several of the suppliers to design and establish formal processes in important areas such as human rights, rights at work and business ethics. None of the suppliers was identified as having a significantly high environmental risk, as no significant real or potentially negative environmental impact was identified as part of the audit.

• Verifying new suppliers
• The construction industry is the industry identified as having the highest risk for Pandox. Accordingly, new suppliers in Property Management that supply goods or services above a certain annual minimum limit are to be audited. The aim is to do this before a contract is signed and to conduct random follow-up audits. With respect to food and beverage suppliers, Pandox has been able to use its position to enable all hotels in Operator Activities – regardless of brand – to use an external supplier’s platform. This is a digital purchasing system and it guarantees that the suppliers have been audited and that any discounts will benefit the users. This minimises situations where bribery might occur.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

2) Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

 

Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

This case study is based on published information by Pandox, 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:

https://www.pandox.se/files/sustainability/Pandox_AR21_EN_Sustainability.pdf

Note to Pandox: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?   

In its 2020 Sustainability Report Ellos Group identified a range of material issues, such as anti-corruption, diversity and equality, energy, emissions and waste, community engagement. Among these, promoting sustainability across its supply chain stands out as a key material issue for Ellos Group.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

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 Ellos Group engages with:

Stakeholder Group

Customers

Employees

Suppliers

Owners

Society

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Ellos Group engaged with its stakeholders through surveys and interviews.

What actions were taken by Ellos Group to promote sustainability across its supply chain?

In its 2020 Sustainability Report Ellos Group reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainability across its supply chain:

• Implementing a Code of Conduct for suppliers
• Ellos Group’s Code of Conduct for its suppliers is based on the French standard ICS (Initiative Clause Social), which is equivalent to programmes such as the BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative), and follows international labour standards, such as the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) conventions and declarations and the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Ellos Group’s Code of Conduct covers important areas such as child labour, forced labour, discrimination, freedom of association, wages and working hours, health and safety in the workplace and environmental aspects. Ellos Group requires all suppliers to adhere to its Code of Conduct prior to starting any business relationship. The Code of Conduct applies to all suppliers and production units that are involved in the manufacture or supply of products to any of the companies included in Ellos Group. The Code of Conduct sets forth the requirements that all suppliers must meet in order to do business with Ellos Group. The suppliers are responsible for ensuring that these requirements are met at all factories involved in the manufacture of products for Ellos Group. Ellos Group also expects its suppliers to follow internationally accepted labour standards, including the ILO conventions, and to continually work on improving the working conditions for those involved in the production of its products.

• Applying a supplier follow-up process
• Ellos Group strives for all of its products to be manufactured in accordance with the Code of Conduct, under fair working conditions and with adherence to human rights. Ellos Group’s suppliers are required to adhere to its Supplier’s Code of Conduct and prior to the first order, all suppliers should have a valid audit protocol. During 2020 there have been cases of denied suppliers due to failure to comply with initial audit. In order to track progress, identify risks and improvement opportunities, and to support its manufacturers, Ellos Group has a control and follow-up system in place with regular audits and inspections. Some of the audits (37%) are done by its main agent Kering Group Sourcing (KGS), and some through the independent audit institute Bureau Veritas. If improvement needs are identified in an audit, the supplier is required to introduce improvements that are outlined in a Corrective Action Plan. As the production of Ellos Group’s products is in high-risk countries from a working condition perspective, there is a need of regular inspections of all suppliers, independent of the sourcing volume Ellos Group has at the supplier. Accordingly, in 2020, Ellos Group continued its work to cover 100% of suppliers to have been audited and externally certified within 24 months by 2020 and reached 100% coverage of all suppliers, manufacturing factories and processing factories. In addition to this, Ellos Group and its agent KGS conduct ad hoc inspections at the suppliers’ factories. Non-compliance identified in 2020 was mainly related to working hours and lack of documentation of wages and working hours. Depending on how serious the non-compliance is, a second audit is scheduled to confirm progress within a set time frame. If serious issues are not rectified, business will be terminated.

• Promoting environmental sustainability
• During 2020, Ellos Group started collecting information from suppliers on their climate impact and created a scorecard on suppliers called the Ellos Group Green Scorecard. The scorecard covers their energy usage, water and wastewater management, preparation and washing, coloration and printing, as well as certificates for sustainable materials. The goal is to collect the information from all factories, and to use the scorecard as input for supplier development.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria

2) Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria

3) Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

This case study is based on published information by Ellos Group, 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:

https://www.ellosgroup.com/sites/ellos-group/files/ellos/sustainability/sustainability-reports/sustainability-report-2020.pdf

Note to Ellos Group: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified? 

In its 2021 Sustainability Report CAF identified a range of material issues, such as quality and safety of products and services, sustainable and efficient mobility, respect for human rights, health and safety in the workplace. Among these, promoting sustainability across its supply chain stands out as a key material issue for CAF.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

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 CAF engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Shareholders	·      Shareholders and Investors Services Office ·      Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) communications ·      Annual General Meeting ·      Regular informative meetings ·      CAF Website (www.caf.net) ·      Whistleblowing channel ·      Shareholders and investors Survey
Customers	·      Meetings with potential customers ·      Customer meetings on projects ·      Customer audits ·      Quality and Safety Management System Audits ·      CAF Website (www.caf.net) ·      Whistleblowing channel ·      Customer Satisfaction Surveys
People	·      CAF Portal ·      Internal communication channels ·      Direct communication ·      Union representation ·      Corporate magazine ·      Whistleblowing channel ·      CAF Website (www.caf.net) ·      Organisation Health Survey
Suppliers	·      Supplier portal ·      CAF Website (www.caf.net) ·      Supplier audits ·      Whistleblowing channel ·      Supplier Satisfaction Surveys
Society	·      CAF Website (www.caf.net) ·      Direct relationship with public authorities ·      Participation at forums and in associations ·      Whistleblowing channel ·      Statement of Non-Financial Information – Sustainability Report ·      Society communication assessment survey

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics CAF conducted interviews with a range of stakeholders, including shareholders, investors, customers and civil society representatives, among others.

What actions were taken by CAF to promote sustainability across its supply chain?

In its 2021 Sustainability Report CAF reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainability across its supply chain:

• Implementing a Supplier Code of Conduct
• CAF requires all suppliers to comply with the ethical principles set out in the CAF Code of Conduct published on the corporate website, including social, ethical and environmental commitments. In addition, the commitments to comply with the general principles of the Code of Conduct, working conditions, health and safety, the environment, commercial ethics and confidentiality are implemented in the Corporate Suppliers Code of Conduct available on the corporate website and via the usual means of internal communication. The Supplier Code of Conduct requires CAF suppliers to transfer the same sustainability standards to their own supply chain. CAF reserves the right to verify compliance by its direct suppliers. This verification may be through assessments conducted by ESG (environmental, social and governance) rating agencies, self-assessment questionnaires, or audits at supplier facilities. If a supplier’s behaviour does not comply with the principles of the general Code of Conduct or this Supplier Code of Conduct, either in its activity with CAF or in the market with third parties, CAF is entitled to take the appropriate measures and may refuse to collaborate with the supplier in the future, or even terminate the current relationship depending on the circumstances. In 2021 work continued on the implementation of the requirement that all suppliers in the process of qualifying for CAF’s various activities must accept this Code. The supplier qualification processes guarantee that CAF’s suppliers contractually commit to the Supplier Code of Conduct and incorporate sustainability checks of the following aspects:
  • Sustainability, Environment and Occupational Health and Safety management certifications, among others
  • Product Quality Management related to IRIS certification
  • Compliance with the CAF Code of Conduct
  • Compliance with the Sustainability Policy
• In 2021, a specific questionnaire on sustainability was incorporated into the mandatory quality audits for approval as a supplier of railway equipment and material for the railway vehicles and buses activity. Based on this initiative, aspects of sustainability were checked in 41 on-site audits. Meanwhile, quality inspections at origin make it possible to identify any deviations from the principles of the Supplier Code of Conduct.

• Evaluating suppliers
• In CAF’s monitoring of sustainability criteria in its supply chain, the evaluation effort prioritises those suppliers that represent the greatest environmental, social and ethical risks, whether due to the potential environmental impact of the product or because they are located in countries with a higher level of exposure to such risks. Based on these criteria, the evaluation effort is focused on 427 target suppliers out of a total of approximately 10,000 suppliers. The evaluations are carried out by Ecovadis, the world leader in this field. Ecovadis adapts the evaluation questionnaire to each supplier based on the locations in which it operates, its sector and its size to evaluate 21 aspects of sustainability aligned with the most demanding international norms, regulations and standards, including those of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the UN Global Compact and ISO 26000. Suppliers’ responses are evaluated by specialised analysts who check whether the documentary evidence is consistent, recent and evidences a dynamic review of the policies, actions and results in the different subjects. This analysis results in a general rating with a maximum score of 100 points, which represents excellent sustainability management. If the result of an evaluation does not meet the requirements established by CAF (a general score of 45 out of 100 in sustainability management), the supplier is required to implement an action plan to improve the weaknesses identified. If the supplier does not raise its assessment to acceptable levels or does not show a commitment to improve, they are audited by experts in the field.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

2) Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

 

Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

This case study is based on published information by CAF, 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:

https://www.caf.net/upload/accionista/Informe-Sostenibilidad_EN.pdf

Note to CAF: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.