What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report Southwestern Energy identified a range of material issues, such as company financial health, environmental monitoring, economic impact in local communities, talent attraction, retention, development and career transitions. Among these, promoting sustainability among its contractors stands out as a key material issue for Southwestern Energy.

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 Southwestern Energy engages with:  

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

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Investors	·      Annual report, quarterly reports and earnings calls ·      In-person meetings with institutional investors, including analyst conferences ·      Meetings with investors who are specifically interested in environmental, social or governance issues ·      Additional regular investor contact through the Investor Relations function, including active engagement and soliciting feedback ·      Continuous monitoring of relevant and emerging ESG issues important to investors
Employees	·      SWNet (intranet) ·      Town hall meetings ·      Support and networking groups, including diversity groups ·      Safety training ·      Performance management ·      “Career Matters” conversations ·      Wellness programmes ·      Leadership and professional development programmes ·      Ethics hotline ·      Day-to-day interactions ·      Employee engagement surveys
Contractors	·      ONE Team events and communications ·      Safety Stand Down days and safety training ·      Monthly safety meetings at SWN sites ·      Special project meetings at SWN sites to address specific health, safety and environment issues and corrective ·      actions ·      Operational reviews by division management ·      Vendor forums and audits ·      SWNlink communications, including operational announcements and quarterly newsletters ·      ISNetworld, a third-party service for hiring, communicating with and managing contractors
Customers	·      Regular contact through the Marketing group
Landowners and Holders of Mineral Rights	·      Access via SWN.com website ·      Direct conversations and negotiations – individually and in small groups ·      Monthly payment statements to royalty owners ·      Semiannual newsletters ·      Landowner hotline
Local Communities	·      Regular contact via SWN community liaisons ·      “Everyday Heroes” events for first responders (annually in operating areas) ·      Employee volunteerism ·      Feedback hotlines
State- and Federal-Level Government Officials	·      Participation in select SWN health, safety and environment meetings ·      Legislative and regulatory engagement
Environmental Organisations and Universities	·      Participation in and funding of specific partnership projects ·      Joint research projects ·      Resources for technical assistance ·      Direct communication with relevant SWN employees

What actions were taken by Southwestern Energy to promote sustainability among its contractors?

In its 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report Southwestern Energy reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainability among its contractors:

• Training and evaluating contractors
• Southwestern Energy maintains stringent requirements and processes for selecting, training and evaluating contractors, following a five-step process:
  • Prequalification assessment of all contractors
  • Project preparation
  • Pre-job activity, including the Training Assurance programme
  • Job oversight, including daily safety meetings
  • Performance assessments
• Southwestern Energy uses a third-party analysis and management system to coordinate the evaluation of contractors on health, safety and environmental (HSE) issues and other issues.

• Assessing contractors
• In 2020, Southwestern Energy continued assurance assessments and leveraged its existing software systems to perform an additional Review and Verification audit on 38 key contractors and perform 168 prequalification reviews. Any concerns or deficiencies identified in a contractor’s assessment must be addressed within 30 to 90 days, depending on the circumstances. Southwestern Energy provides oversight and support as needed during this period and makes sure that any required corrective actions are completed.

• Implementing a new HSE data management system
• In 2020, Southwestern Energy finalised the implementation of a new HSE data management system to support its commitment to continuous improvement. One enhancement of this system is facilitating better accountability and tracking of corrective actions arising from both contractor and Southwestern Energy operational assessments. Another improvement made to the system in 2020 was the initiation of a tracker for subcontractors, allowing Southwestern Energy to review their safety numbers and understand the full scope of the workforce on its locations.

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 Southwestern Energy, 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.swn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021_11-2020-CR-Report-Complete.pdf

Note to Southwestern Energy: 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 2015–16 Corporate Responsibility Report SWN identified a range of material issues, such as risk management, safe working conditions and training, proactive community engagement, company financial health, water quality, sourcing and wastewater management. Among these, reducing methane emissions stands out as a key material issue for SWN.

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 organization should identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations.”

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 SWN engages with:   

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Investors	·         Financial reports and teleconferences (annually and quarterly) ·         Meetings with institutional investors (more than 850 in 2015) ·         Direct contact with Board members ·         Investor conferences and bus tours (54 in 2015) ·         Additional regular contact through SWN’s Investor Relations function
Employees	·         SWNet (internal internet) ·         Town-hall style meetings (quarterly by division, and quarterly with SWN’s CEO) ·         Support and networking groups ·         Safety training ·         Performance management ·         Connection (triennial employee newsletter) ·         Surveys ·         Leadership and professional development programs ·         Ethics hotline ·         Day-to-day interactions
Contractors	·         Safety Stand Down days and safety training ·         Project meetings at SWN sites to address specific HSE issues and corrective actions ·         Operational reviews by division management ·         Vendor forums and audits ·         SWNlink communications, including operational announcements and quarterly newsletters
Customers	·         Regular contact through SWN’s Marketing group
Landowners and Holders of Mineral Rights	·         Direct, individual conversations and negotiations ·         Monthly payment statements to royalty owners ·         Biannual newsletters ·         Landowner hotline
Local Communities (including residents, elected officials, community groups, chambers of commerce, emergency responders)	·         Regular contact via SWN community liaisons ·         Everyday Heroes events (annually in Southwestern Energy’s operating areas) ·         Employee volunteerism (typically monthly) ·         Safety Stand Down days and safety training ·         Hotlines to field concerns and questions ·         Fundraisers and charitable giving ·         Crisis drills (annually)
State- and Federal-Level Government Officials	·         Open and direct communications ·         Educational sessions ·         Legislative and regulatory engagement
Environmental Organisations and Universities	·         Participation in and funding of specific partnership projects ·         Joint research projects ·         Resources for technical assistance ·         Direct communication with relevant SWN employees

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics SWN interviewed stakeholders and reviewed documents representing stakeholders’ views, including employees, suppliers, investors, regulators, local communities and nongovernmental organisations.

What actions were taken by SWN to reduce methane emissions?

In its 2015–16 Corporate Responsibility Report SWN reports that it took the following actions for reducing methane emissions:

• Implementing a leak detection and repair programme
• SWN applies a company-wide leak detection and repair (LDAR) programme, which includes annual instrument surveys, leak detection surveys, leak repairs, re-surveys and recordkeeping sufficient to track and trend leaks. In 2015, SWN acquired Bacharach Hi-Flow measurement devices and was able to quantify the emissions detected. In addition, SWN staff carried out instrument leak detection surveys on approximately 88 per cent of SWN’s total well count and 85 per cent of its Midstream-operated compressor stations. Leaks were identified and repaired, and midstream operations achieved a 60 per cent decrease in total leak observations from 2014 to 2015.

• Evaluating new and emerging methane emission-detection technologies
• SWN engages in field trials to evaluate new and emerging methane emission-detection technologies (for example, the Picarro Surveyor and Rebellion Photonics Gas Cloud Imaging). Additionally, SWN participates in the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)’s Methane Detector Challenge and the ARPA-E programme by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop low-cost methane sensors, as well as in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Natural Gas STAR Program, which encourages companies to voluntarily recover or reduce methane emissions. SWN’s cumulative reported reductions since beginning the programme in 2006, are more than 41.2 billion cubic feet.

• Collaborating to reduce methane emissions across the natural gas value chain
• SWN co-founded the Our Nation’s Energy (ONE) Future coalition, a group of eight companies dedicated to reducing methane emissions across the natural gas value chain. ONE Future’s aim is to reduce, by 2025, emissions to an average annual leak/loss rate of no more than 1 per cent of gross U.S. natural gas production. SWN also joined the Climate and Clean Air Coalition Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (CCACOGMP), an international programme that aims to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. Programme participants share best practices for controlling and reducing emissions from certain sources.

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

The GRI Standard addressed in this case is:

Disclosure 305-5 Reduction of GHG emissions

Disclosure 305-5 Reduction of GHG emissions corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• Business theme: GHG emissions
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
• Business theme: Ocean acidification
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
• Business theme: Forest degradation

 

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:

1) This case study is based on published information by SWN, 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) http://www.fbrh.co.uk/en/global-reporting-initiative-gri-g4-guidelines-download-page

3) https://g4.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx

4) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to SWN: 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 2015–16 Corporate Responsibility Report Southwestern Energy identified a range of material issues, such as risk management, proactive community engagement, company financial health, water quality, sourcing and wastewater management. Among these, promoting workplace safety through employee health and safety training stands out as a key material issue for Southwestern Energy.

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 organization should identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations.”

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 Southwestern Energy engages with:   

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Investors	·         Financial reports and teleconferences (annually and quarterly) ·         Meetings with institutional investors (more than 850 in 2015) ·         Direct contact with Board members ·         Investor conferences and bus tours (54 in 2015) ·         Additional regular contact through  Southwestern Energy’s Investor Relations function
Employees	·         SWNet (internal internet) ·         Town-hall style meetings (quarterly by division, and quarterly with Southwestern Energy’s CEO) ·         Support and networking groups ·         Safety training ·         Performance management ·         Connection (triennial employee newsletter) ·          Surveys ·         Leadership and professional development programs ·         Ethics hotline ·         Day-to-day interactions
Contractors	·         Safety Stand Down days and safety training ·         Project meetings at SWN sites to address specific HSE issues and corrective actions ·         Operational reviews by division management ·         Vendor forums and audits ·         SWNlink communications, including operational announcements and quarterly newsletters
Customers	·         Regular contact through Southwestern Energy’s Marketing group
Landowners and Holders of Mineral Rights	·         Direct, individual conversations and negotiations ·         Monthly payment statements to royalty owners ·         Biannual newsletters ·         Landowner hotline
Local Communities (including residents, elected officials, community groups, chambers of commerce, emergency responders)	·         Regular contact via SWN community liaisons ·         Everyday Heroes events (annually in Southwestern Energy’s operating areas) ·         Employee volunteerism (typically monthly) ·         Safety Stand Down days and safety training ·         Hotlines to field concerns and questions ·         Fundraisers and charitable giving ·         Crisis drills (annually)
State- and Federal-Level Government Officials	·         Open and direct communications ·         Educational sessions ·         Legislative and regulatory engagement
Environmental Organizations and Universities	·         Participation in and funding of specific partnership projects ·          Joint research projects ·          Resources for technical assistance ·         Direct communication with relevant SWN employees

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritize key corporate responsibility issues Southwestern Energy interviewed stakeholders and, also, reviewed documents that represented stakeholders’ views, including employees, suppliers, investors, regulators, local communities and nongovernmental organizations.

What actions were taken by Southwestern Energy to promote workplace safety through employee health and safety training?

In its 2015–16 Corporate Responsibility Report Southwestern Energy reports that it took the following actions for promoting workplace safety through employee health and safety training:

• Training employees to identify safe and unsafe behaviors
• [tweetthis]Southwestern Energy implemented, in 2015, the behavior-based STOP For Each Other safety program[/tweetthis], training employees to identify safe and unsafe behaviors in colleagues and discuss behaviors observed, to ensure each other’s safety. Employees’ observations regarding safety issues could be reported through a mobile app and online and, by early 2016, over 5,000 observations were submitted.

• Offering driver safety training
• Every employee operating a vehicle for Southwestern Energy has to attend an initial driver training course, passing a test on what has been learned, also taking a required annual refresher course. Additionally, interactive vehicle feedback systems in vehicles owned or leased by Southwestern Energy offer drivers verbal coaching, in case they demonstrate unsafe behaviors.

• Providing crisis response training
• Collaborating with local emergency responders, Southwestern Energy offers employees in all operating locations crisis response training. Local emergency responders also participate in such crisis drills, in order for employees to better comprehend the company’s operations and be able to respond properly in emergency situations. In 2015, Southwestern Energy carried out hurricane preparedness training with employees and local emergency responders in Houston.

Which GRI indicators/Standards have been addressed?

The GRI indicators/Standards addressed in this case are:

1) G4-LA5: Percentage of total workforce represented in formal joint management–worker health and safety committees that help monitor and advise on occupational health and safety programs – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 403-1 Workers representation in formal joint management–worker health and safety committees

2) G4-LA9: Average hours of training per year per employee by gender, and by employee category – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee

 

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:

1) This case study is based on published information by Southwestern Energy, 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) http://www.fbrh.co.uk/en/global-reporting-initiative-gri-g4-guidelines-download-page

3) https://g4.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx

4) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to Southwestern Energy: With each case study we send out an email to your listed address in request for a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.