Nutrien

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
Nutrien states it is developing an enhanced materiality process that merges strategic issues management and assesses both financial and non-financial factors. While the company has set time-bound targets for the majority of its most relevant sustainability topics through its Feeding the Future Plan, it has yet to report progress against them and demonstrate solid reporting practice. There is also an opportunity for Nutrien to further develop its sustainability targets in the environment and nutrition dimensions.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
The company has a governance system that includes the highest level responsibility and accountability for its sustainable targets. Furthermore, its executive leadership team is impacted by corporate performance and ESG-related targets. However, there is an opportunity for Nutrien to increase its accountability for sustainable development by linking this reward system to sustainability performance on topics across all three benchmark measurement areas of environment, nutrition and social inclusion.

Stakeholder engagement
Nutrien states that it regularly engages with stakeholders and discloses the outcomes of its stakeholder engagement as well as the integration of those outcomes into its sustainability strategy. Furthermore, it reports that its Feeding the Future Plan is based on input from various stakeholder groups. Moreover, the company demonstrates that it covers all three dimensions of the benchmark (environment, nutrition and social inclusion) as part of its stakeholder engagement. However, while the company recognises the necessity of stakeholder engagement, it does not disclose its process for identifying key stakeholders across its value chain.

Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions
Nutrien discloses a target to achieve at least a 30% reduction in its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per tonne of products produced and has consistently reported quantitative reductions in scope 1 and 2 emissions. However, there is an opportunity for the company to externally validate its target as aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions
The company discloses its scope 3 initiatives, including its Carbon Programme. It states that it will launch programme pilots in the United States and Canada in 2021 and that its sustainability solutions pilots began in 2019. Furthermore, it is undertaking, in collaboration with Yara and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a sectoral decarbonization approach for the nitrogen fertilizer sector which will be finalized in 2022. However, there is room for Nutrien to enhance its disclosure on scope 3 emissions by providing a time-bound target to reduce its scope 3 emissions.

Soil health and agrobiodiversity
Nutrien provides advice to growers on best management practices such as environmental farm plans, integrated pest management plans, conservation tillage or no till, cover crops and crop rotation. It also discloses a target to enable growers to adopt sustainable and productive agricultural products and practices on 75 million acres globally by 2030. However, the company has yet to report against its target.

Fertiliser and pesticide use
The company discloses its 4R Nutrient Stewardship System in North America and Fertcare in Australia. It also provides university research and nutrient management information on its eKonomics website. The company also has a target to enable growers to adopt sustainable practices on 75 million acres globally by 2030. Nevertheless, there is room for Nutrien to increase its disclosure by providing more quantitative data on optimising the use of fertilisers, and setting targets to increase the sales, and research and development towards products that support optimised fertiliser use.

Water use
Nutrien discloses its objectives to complete a watershed risk assessment of its production sites in 2021 and to establish operational water targets by 2023. Furthermore, while it discloses its freshwater withdrawals from areas with high water stress, it reports an increase in water withdrawals between 2019 and 2020. Therefore, the company does not demonstrate quantitative reductions across its own operations, nor has it yet set a time-bound target to reduce water withdrawals.

Availability of healthy foods
While the company states that seed treatment can improve the biological and nutritional value of crops, the company has not set specific targets and objectives to improve the availability of healthy and nutritious foods. Therefore, there is room for Nutrien to improve its disclosure by being explicit about how its products and activities impact the nutritional quality of crops.

Accessibility and affordability of healthy foods
Nutrien discloses a commitment to strengthen food security by scaling sustainable and productive agriculture. While it recognises food insecurity as an issue, the company does not disclose quantitative evidence on the impact of its projects on food security and nutrition.

Workforce nutrition
Nutrien supports workforce nutrition by providing nutrition education and nutrition-focused health checks programmes to its employees, notably through its Wellness Hub. There is an opportunity for the company to improve its performance by increasing its disclosure on healthy food at work and breastfeeding support.

Child and forced labour
While the company discloses information on both child and forced labour, it does not commit to prohibiting child and forced labour in its operations and supply chain in a policy document.

Health and safety of vulnerable groups
While Nutrien recognises the health and safety risks to indigenous peoples, women and children, it does not provide evidence of support activities that improve the health and safety of vulnerable groups. There is an opportunity for the company to show leading practice by increasing its disclosure on this topic.

Farmer productivity and resilience
Nutrien discloses a commitment to strengthen food security, by scaling sustainable and productive agriculture and to support rural livelihoods and increase participation of underrepresented stakeholders in agriculture. The company provides evidence of activities such as programmes and trainings that support farmers in realisation of its commitments. However, while it provides details on possible impact on farmers yields, the company does not disclose evidence or data regarding the realised impact of these programmes.

Nutrien has made public commitments to respect the UN and ILO human rights standards and requires the same from its suppliers. The company describes a grievance mechanism accessible to employees and external stakeholders. While the company mentions its efforts around stakeholder engagement, it is not clear whether this includes stakeholders whose human rights are potentially affected by its activities. The company does not provide evidence of a human rights due diligence process or substantial engagement with affected and potentially affected stakeholders.

Nutrien publicly commits to the health and safety of its workers and shows evidence of monitoring safety in its supply chain. However, it has room to improve through additional disclosure of qualitative information. It discloses information on collective bargaining agreements covering its workforce but not its supply chain. Finally, Nutrien does not disclose details regarding paying a living wage or working hours in its operations or supply chain.

The company publicly commits to protecting personal data and has a privacy statement on the use of personal data. It discloses a global tax strategy, though not its income tax payments for all its tax jurisdictions. The company has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption and has a grievance mechanism as well as clauses in contracts with supply chain partners addressing the subject, but it does not mention its process to identify and address potential issues. In its Political Advocacy Statement, Nutrien sets out its approach to political engagement, although it does not specify that it refrains from making political contributions. Moreover, the company does not disclose a policy on its lobbying activities nor report on its lobbying expenditures.