Novozymes

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses the channels it uses to engage with its stakeholder groups, such as with customers through joint partnerships, innovation centres, and workshops.

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.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company discloses that it is increasing its ambition to reduce emissions. By 2030, it aims to achieve a 50% reduction in emissions from its operations and supply chain (scopes 1+2+3), as well as a 75% reduction in emissions from its operations (scope 1) and indirect emissions from purchased energy (scope 2). Additionally, the company is committed to reducing emissions from its supply chain (scope 3) by 35% from the 2018 baseline. All its targets are aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Plastic use and packaging waste
The company demonstrates commitment related to plastic use reduction and transitioning towards sustainable packaging.

Availability of nutritious foods
The company provides examples of products that aim to enhance the nutritional value of dairy products. These ingredients focus on decreasing sugar content and increasing dietary fiber.

No leading practices were identified in the social inclusion area.

Act ethically
The company discloses its global tax strategy and has a clear policy prohibiting bribery and corruption. It also includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships. Additionally, the company specifies that it does not make any political contributions.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has a publicly available policy statement that emphasizes its commitment to ensuring the health and safety of its workers. Additionally, it expects its business relationships to similarly prioritize the health and safety of their workers.

In addition, the company actively supports the practices of its business relationships regarding freedom of association and collective bargaining. To demonstrate its commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment, it discloses the proportion of women in its direct operations workforce for each employee category. Furthermore, the company has set specific targets to increase the representation of women in senior management by 35% and across all professionals by 45% by 2025. As part of its transparency, the company discloses that out of its 10 board of directors, 3 are female, representing 30% of the board.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available policy statement that commits it to respecting both human rights and ILO core labor rights. Additionally, the company expects its suppliers to adhere to the ILO core labor rights as stated in their policy statement. They also provide a website for reporting grievances, which is accessible to everyone. Upon visiting the website, it becomes evident that the reporting channel is open to anyone, and complainants have the option to either remain anonymous or identify themselves.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
The company discloses a remuneration policy related to sustainability performance but can further link this policy to improvement in nature-related objectives and social issues. Furthermore, there is an opportunity for the company to disclose whether its highest governance body has specific expertise with respect to the company’s most material sustainability topics.

Lobbying and advocacy
The company has an opportunity to disclose a list of trade associations of which it is a member. Furthermore, it could provide a clear and detailed framework for assessing the alignment of these trade associations with its sustainability targets and report any (potential) misalignments between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and its sustainability targets.

Stakeholder engagement
The company has an opportunity to disclose an overview of the issues raised by each stakeholder group during its stakeholder engagement activities.

Sustainable development strategy
The company discloses some sustainability objectives/targets including climate, social inclusion and water, but could establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain. While the company reports qualitative progress against all its targets, it has an opportunity to disclose quantitative information regarding its current status.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company has an opportunity to reduce its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions and to report progress against these targets. Additionally, it has the chance to reduce its scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions and report progress against these targets as well.

Food loss and waste
The company has an opportunity to disclose its FLW reduction targets and report progress made towards achieving these targets. Additionally, the company should consider aligning its FLW reduction goal with SDG12.3, which aims for a 50% reduction in food loss and waste by 2030.

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

Soil health and agrobiodiversity
The company has an opportunity to disclose activities and targets to improve soil health or agrobiodiversity in its production or sourcing practices, and report progress against the targets.

Water withdrawal
The company has an opportunity to enhance its disclosures relating to water use and withdrawal.

Availability of nutritious foods
The company has an opportunity to make a commitment and showcase evidence of how its activities contribute to addressing malnutrition and food insecurity.

Food safety
The company has an opportunity to demonstrate that 100% of its own operations are certified to a GFSI food safety scheme/certification programme or other widely recognised (industry-specific) certification. Additionally, it can disclose the percentage of food suppliers certified to a GFSI-recognised food safety scheme.

Child labour
The company 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. While the company prohibits its suppliers from using child labour, it could require them to have an age-verification system in place.

Forced labour
The company has an opportunity to disclose forced labour requirements for its operations and supply chain such as a prohibition to pay recruitment fees, to retain workers’ personal documents or to restrict workers’ freedom of movement. Further, it could provide evidence of how it builds the capacity of its suppliers to prevent forced labour impacts.

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 has the ability to outline its process for identifying bribery and corruption risks and their impacts in various locations or activities, which includes its own operations. However, it remains unclear whether this process is easily accessible to all stakeholders and if individuals who raise concerns can choose to remain anonymous or not.

Moreover, the company has the chance to establish a policy that outlines its approach to lobbying and political engagement. Additionally, it could disclose its expenditures related to lobbying activities. Lastly, the company could also disclose that it mandates third-party lobbyists to adhere to its lobbying and political engagement policy.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has the opportunity to disclose a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage, or to state that it has already achieved this goal. Additionally, the company can disclose how it determines a living wage for the regions in which it operates. While the company has set expectations for the wages paid by its suppliers, it can further enhance its practices by adding a requirement for them to pay a living wage. Furthermore, the company should disclose how it supports suppliers in meeting this requirement. Lastly, the company could disclose the ratio of the basic salary and remuneration of women to men in its total direct operations workforce, categorized by employee and significant location of operation.

Respect human rights
The company has an opportunity to enhance its description of the process for identifying human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities, focusing on its own operations. While the company mentions conducting due diligence in general, it can provide more clarity by specifying that it also conducts human rights due diligence in its supply chain.

Additionally, the company could outline its approach for assessing and identifying the most significant human rights issues it deems as salient. Moreover, disclosing the results of its human rights risk assessment would further enhance transparency. Lastly, the company has the potential to disclose a comprehensive global system that addresses, prevents, or mitigates its salient human rights issues.