Managing sustainability

Monitoring progress

We use key indicators to track our progress in delivering on the sustainable business imperatives of our sustainability agenda, with a baseline year of 2012:

• Sustainable growth is measured through the Resource Efficiency Index
• One of the measures for resource productivity has been our cradle-to-grave carbon footprint per ton of sales
• We measure the eco-premium segment of our sustainable product portfolios – the products and solutions that meet functional needs and also provide better environmental or social benefits for customers than market alternatives

Management accountability

The Executive Committee has responsibility for incorporating the sustainability agenda in the company strategy and monitoring the performance of each business through the Operational Control Cycle.

The Sustainability Council advises the Executive Committee on new developments, performance and the integration of sustainability into management processes. The Council, which meets quarterly, is chaired by the CEO and includes the COO, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Chief Human Resources Officer and representative Business and Functional Directors. The Corporate Director of Sustainability reports directly to the CEO.

Reporting principles

Our reporting principles are based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, supported by internally developed guidelines. Our complete reporting principles can be found on our website, in addition to an index of the GRI G4 indicators and a summary of our UN Global Compact communication of progress.