Carlsberg

Sustainable development strategy
Carlsberg demonstrates leading practice in developing and embedding sustainable development targets in its strategy. It discloses a long-term sustainability strategy that covers all sustainability topics related to the benchmark dimensions of environment, nutrition and social inclusion.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
Carlsberg demonstrates leading practice in its governance and accountability mechanisms, disclosing its oversight responsibility and processes and stating in its remuneration report that 10% of the remuneration of the chief executive officer and chief financial officer is linked to the company’s Together Towards ZERO sustainability strategy.

Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions
Carlsberg demonstrates leading practice in reducing its scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, and it has set a science-based target to reduce emissions. The company also reports progress against this target, which is in line with a 1.5-degree scenario.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the nutrition measurement area.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the nutrition measurement area.

Stakeholder engagement
Carlsberg discloses that it developed its sustainability strategy following an extensive stakeholder engagement process, but it does not disclose this process publicly. It has an opportunity to improve by detailing how it selects the stakeholders and providing an overview of the topics discussed or their outcomes.

Soil health and agrobiodiversity, and fertiliser and pesticide use
Carlsberg provides qualitative evidence of sustainable sourcing practices through crop innovation techniques developed by its scientists. However, it does not disclose that it is adopting sustainable production practices that improve soil health and increase agrobiodiversity or that optimise the use of fertilisers and pesticides.

Water use
Carlsberg has a target to halve the amount of water used to make every hectolitre (hundred litres) of beer by 2030. The company also conducted a water risk assessment of 81 of its majority-owned breweries and identified 17 located in high-risk areas. While it states that it has started working with partners to plan and launch specific water-related projects, no evidence of these partner engagement activities was found.

Plastic use and packaging waste
While Carlsberg discloses that it is reducing its plastic use and transitioning to sustainable forms of packaging, it has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment by setting targets for these activities and reporting progress against them.

Availability of healthy foods
While Carlsberg discloses that it introduces reformulated products such as low-alcohol beers, it has an opportunity to disclose reformulation efforts related to calories as well.

Clear and transparent labelling
While Carlsberg has a commitment to include nutritional labelling on its products and online, it has an opportunity to make nutritional information more visible to consumers through the adoption of front-of-pack labels and/or any other consumer-facing nutrition label.

Responsible marketing
Carlsberg has a responsible marketing commitment that applies to all media and extends to children and teens. It also provides evidence of a number of activities to support its commitment. However, it has an opportunity to improve by disclosing the proportion of its marketing budget that is spent on promoting healthier products.

Food safety
While the company discloses evidence that some of its sites are certified to a food safety scheme/certification programme recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), it does not demonstrate that all its operations are certified to a GFSI-recognised food safety scheme/certification programme or other widely recognised (industry-specific) certification.

Child labour
While the company commits to prohibiting child labour in its own operations and requires its suppliers to adhere to the same standard, it has an opportunity to disclose a policy requiring its suppliers to have an age-verification system in place.

Forced labour
While the company commits to prohibiting forced labour in its own operations and supply chain, it has an opportunity to disclose a requirement that prohibits its suppliers from retaining workers’ personal documents and restricting workers’ freedom of movement.

Living wage
The company does not disclose that it pays its workers a living wage or requires its suppliers to do the same. Neither has it set targets to do so in the future.

Health and safety of vulnerable groups
The company does not disclose that it specifically recognises the health and safety risks to vulnerable groups, such as migrant and temporary labourers, women and young farmers.

Carlsberg provides grievance mechanisms for both workers and third parties and commits to respecting the human rights of workers in its operations and supply chain. However, no sufficient overall commitment to human rights was found in the public domain, neither does the company provide evidence of a human rights due diligence process or substantial engagement with affected and potentially affected stakeholders.

Carlsberg commits to health and safety, collective bargaining, workforce diversity and gender equality, but it can improve its performance by increasing its disclosure on key metrics related to these topics. Moreover, the company does not commit to paying a living wage and can strengthen its commitments and expectations regarding working hours in its own operations and supply chain.

Carlsberg discloses publicly available policies or statements on personal data protection and tax, but there remains an opportunity for the company to increase its disclosure on taxes paid and the collection of personal data. Regarding bribery and corruption, Carlsberg has a statement prohibiting these practices and extends this requirement to its suppliers. However, it does not disclose how it identifies risks and impacts in its operations. In addition, it does not have a publicly available policy statement setting out its lobbying and political engagement approach.