Carlsberg

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities and states the frequency and channels it uses to engage with its stakeholder groups. Furthermore, the company’s stakeholder engagement covers nature, nutrition, and social issues.

Sustainable development strategy
The company discloses its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability impacts as well as the outcome of this process, in relation to its sustainability strategy. Furthermore, it reports consistently against all its targets.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company has set a target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within a defined timeframe. Progress towards these targets is regularly reported by the company. Additionally, the company has also adopted scope 3 GHG emissions reduction targets. The company shows leadership by aligning all these GHG emissions reduction targets with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Fertiliser and pesticide use
The company discloses quantitative evidence on optimising the use of fertilisers in its sourcing practices.

Plastic use and packaging waste
The company demonstrates commitment, has policies or partakes in activities related to plastic use reduction and transitioning towards sustainable packaging.

Soil health and agrobiodiversity
The company discloses activities and targets to improve soil health in its sourcing practices. Specifically, the company has set a target to achieve 30% of its raw materials to be grown using regenerative practices and be sustainably sourced by 2030, as part of a long-term commitment to reach 100% by 2040. It also reports progress against this target.

Water withdrawal
The company demonstrates reducing water withdrawal in its own operations. It provides transparent reports on the amount of water withdrawn for its own activities in areas facing water scarcity. Additionally, the company collaborates with suppliers to collectively reduce water withdrawal. It acknowledges its involvement in high-risk regions and employs the WWF tool to assess these areas. Moreover, the company has set targets with breweries operating in these high-risk areas to specifically reduce water usage.

Clear and transparent labelling
The company discloses the percentage of products and markets for which it has provided nutrition information. Additionally, the company has evidence to support that it has implemented all of its labelling commitments in at least 80% of all markets or for 98% of all products worldwide.

Responsible marketing
The company has a responsible marketing policy that covers all media channels, aimed at reducing children’s exposure to alcohol marketing and limiting the appeal of alcohol marketing.

No leading practices were identified in the social inclusion area.

Act ethically
The company has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption and includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships. Additionally, it has a grievance mechanism for stakeholders to raise concerns and complaints regarding bribery and corruption. Furthermore, the company discloses a public commitment to protect personal data and discloses a global tax strategy which an executive-level committee has responsibility for.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has a publicly available policy statement in which it commits to respecting the health and safety of workers and expects its business relationships to do so. Furthermore, it discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by age group. It also discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements and describes how it works to support the practices of its business relationships in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Moreover, it provides the proportion of women in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category. While the company currently has 35.7% women on the board, it targets to increase the representation of women in senior leadership to 30% by 2024, 35% by 2027 and 40% over time.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights and the ILO core labour rights and expects suppliers to do the latter. Furthermore, it discloses the results of its human rights risk assessments and provides a case study describing how it has acted on a salient human rights risk issue. The company also has a human rights grievance mechanism accessible to all workers and all external stakeholders who may be adversely impacted by the company.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
The company discloses a remuneration policy related to sustainability; however, it has an opportunity to link this policy to specific objectives in relation to improvement in nature and social issues. While the company states that the board of directors has expertise in ESG, CSR and health and safety, it has an opportunity to disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise with respect to the company’s most material sustainability topics.

Lobbying and advocacy
While the company states that it engages through trade associations such as IARD, it has an opportunity disclose a list of trade associations of which it is a member for all jurisdictions where it operates. Furthermore, it has an opportunity to disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with its sustainability targets and to report any (potential) misalignments between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and its sustainability targets.

Stakeholder engagement
The company has an opportunity to explain how it has responded to key issues raised by each stakeholder group and disclose specific outcomes implemented to respond to key issues for each stakeholder group, beyond materiality assessment.

Sustainable development strategy
While the company discloses some sustainability objectives/targets including climate, social inclusion, water, and soil health, it has an opportunity to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain such as nutrition and biodiversity.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company has an opportunity to reduce its scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions and disclose a time-bound target for this reduction. Additionally, it can also report progress made towards achieving these scope 3 targets.

Fertiliser and pesticide use
The company has an opportunity to disclose targets to optimise the use of fertilizers and minimise the use of pesticides in its sourcing practices, and report progress against them.

Plastic use and packaging waste
The company has an opportunity to disclose quantitative evidence regarding plastic use reduction and use of sustainable packaging.

Water withdrawal
The company currently discloses reduction targets that pertain to water consumption, absolute water use, and/or water intensity. However, it should also consider disclosing a target for reducing water withdrawal specifically within its own operations, and provide regular updates on progress towards that target.

Availability of nutritious foods
The company has an opportunity to disclose additional information about its innovation activities to reduce sugar and calories in its products.

Clear and transparent labelling
The company 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.

Food safety
While the company discloses that all its major European breweries are certified to GFSI-recognised schemes and 87% in Asia have GFSI equivalent qualifications, it has an opportunity to extend the certifications to 100% of its own operations. Additionally, it can disclose the percentage of food suppliers certified to a GFSI-recognised food safety scheme.

Child labour
The company has due diligence and audit processes in place on child labour for its operations and supply chain. However, it has an opportunity to disclose examples of remediation programmes when a case of child labour is found in its operations and to indicate how it is building the capacity of its suppliers to prevent child labour impacts. Furthermore, the company prohibits suppliers from using child labour but has an opportunity to require them to have an age-verification system in place.

Forced labour
While the company discloses a prohibition to restrict workers’ freedom of movement for its operations, it could demonstrate a similar commitment for its supply chain. Furthermore, it has an opportunity to disclose a prohibition to pay recruitment fees or related costs in its value chain. To conclude, the company could indicate how it is building the capacity of its suppliers to prevent forced labour impacts.

Health and safety of vulnerable groups
The company has an opportunity to recognise and assess the health and safety risks to vulnerable groups, such as migrant and temporary labourers, women and young farmers. Furthermore, it could provide evidence of support activities that improve the health and safety of vulnerable groups.

Living wage
The company has an opportunity to set a target for paying a living wage across its direct suppliers and describe how it determines a living wage for the regions where it sources. Also, it could disclose the percentage of workers across its own operations or suppliers that are paid a living wage.

Act ethically
The company could describe the process for identifying its bribery and corruption risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations. Furthermore, it has an opportunity to have a policy setting out its lobbying and political engagement approach and a statement that specifies that it does not make political contributions. Additionally, the company could disclose its expenditures on lobbying activities and could require third-party lobbyists to comply with its lobbying and political engagement policy.

Provide and promote decent work
While the company states that health and safety is part of SMETA audits, it has an opportunity to disclose how it monitors the health and safety performance of its suppliers. Furthermore, besides stating that it pays minimum wage to its employees, the company could commit to paying a living wage by setting a time-bound target. On that note, while the company has set expectations on the wage paid by its suppliers, it has an opportunity to add a requirement for them to pay a living wage, as well as how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates and disclose how it supports the payment.

Regarding gender equality, it can consider committing to gender equality and women’s empowerment and could disclose the ratio of the basic salary and remuneration of women to men in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category, by significant locations of operation.

Respect human rights
The company has an opportunity to describe the process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities, covering its supply chain and what it considers to be its salient human rights issues. While the company has conducted an human rights risk assessment, it has an opportunity to disclose how it identifies human rights risks and impacts. Additionally, it can consider disclosing a global system to act on, prevent or mitigate its salient human rights issues.