Mitr Phol Sugar Corp

No leading practices were identified for the company in the governance and strategy measurement area.

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

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

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

Sustainable development strategy
The company has begun the process of establishing a holistic sustainability strategy by conducting an identification and prioritisation process through which it has defined the sustainability topics that are most relevant to its operations and its supply chain. However, the company has not yet begun setting time-bound targets. Furthermore, Mitr Phol’s targets have a 3-year timeframe, thus not justifying a long-term strategy. The company is therefore encouraged to set time-bound targets which cover all benchmark dimensions, as well as its value chain and to include a long-term perspective.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
The company does not disclose the governance structure for the implementation of its sustainable development strategy or targets, such as the person, team or committee that holds ultimate responsibility for its implementation.

Stakeholder engagement
The company has disclosed it conducts stakeholder engagement through regular communication via diverse channels of communication, and states the feedback received is of value for its decision-making process and its strategy. However, while the company discloses the integration of stakeholder feedback into its strategic planning, it could improve its disclosures by stating how its stakeholders have been identified, as well as by covering all three benchmark dimensions, namely environment, nutrition and social inclusion.

Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions
The company has set a target of reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for its scope 1 and 2 per revenue by 15% and has disclosed quantitative information regarding its emissions. The company could further strengthen its commitment towards reducing its emissions by reporting progress against its target. Furthermore, the company still has room for improvement, notably by setting science-based targets aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions
The company does not disclose quantitative evidence to demonstrate that it is reducing its scope 3 GHG emissions.

Soil health and agrobiodiversity, and fertiliser and pesticide use
While the company discloses qualitative evidence of supporting farmers adhere to sustainable agricultural practices it has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment by setting targets to increase the percentage of production from sustainable practices that improve soil health and agrobiodiversity and practices that optimise use of fertilisers and pesticides, reporting progress against the targets and disclosing quantifiable data on its impact on soil health and agrobiodiversity.

Water use
Mitr Phol discloses relevant information regarding its water use and has set a target to reduce water usage per production unit by 15% compared to a 2018 baseline, and report on metrics relevant to its target. While the company also reports using the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas and monitoring water-related risks, it could further improve its commitments in this area by engaging with its suppliers and disclosing on this.

Availability of healthy foods
While the company has a commitment to increase the availability of healthy and nutritious foods, it has an opportunity to undertake activities that contribute to increasing the production, quality and/or variety of healthy and nutritious foods.

Accessibility and affordability of healthy foods
The company does not disclose a commitment to address food insecurity by improving the accessibility and affordability of healthy and nutritious foods.

Food safety
The company does not disclose evidence of ensuring safe food for consumers through compliance with national regulations and/or the Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene, nor an effective food safety certification scheme.

Child and forced labour
The company does not disclose a commitment to prohibit child labour and forced labour in its own operations.

Farmer and fisher productivity and resilience
The company has committed to supporting farmer productivity and resilience, notably through its Mitr Phol Modern Farm program. The overall focus of the program is to increase productivity and improve sugar cane quality by the implementation of sustainable agriculture practices, which help farmers increase yields and decrease production costs. However, the company could strengthen its commitment on this matter by consistently monitoring the outcomes and impact of all of its support programs.

Land rights
The company does not commit to recognising and respecting the legitimate tenure rights related to the ownership and use of land of local communities.

Mitr Phol Sugar Corp has publicly available policies and commitments across most key topics. It has committed to respecting human rights, has widely disclosed details on their due diligence process, which covers identification, assessment, and action, and has set up a grievance mechanism that is accessible by both internal and external individuals. The company could further strengthen its human rights stewardship by strengthening its commitments to ILO labor rights and providing more examples of its stakeholder engagement activities.

The company discloses a commitment to promote health and safety in the workplace of its own employees and those in its supply chain. It further discloses information covering how it promotes health and safety for example, how this topic is managed and the certifications in place. However, no disclosures on number and rate of injuries could be found. Nevertheless, no further policies or commitments – notably on living wage, working hours, gender, and collective bargaining – were found in the public domain.

By disclosing policies and relevant information on, tax, bribery and corruption, and lobbying and political engagement approaches, Mitr Phol Sugar Corp demonstrates a commitment to ethical business conduct. There is room for improvement, such as by incorporating policies and statements regarding privacy protection, and by reporting on its lobbying expenditures.