Wilmar International

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities and states the frequencies and channels it uses to engage with its stakeholder groups. Furthermore, its stakeholder engagement covers nature, nutrition, and social issues. The company discloses the outcomes of its engagement with some of its stakeholders and could further provide specific examples on actions being implemented to respond to key issues raised by other stakeholders.

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 discloses reductions of its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It further discloses an overview its scope 3 GHG emissions per category.

Ecosystem conversion
The company discloses some activities to achieve conversion-free supply chains. Its discloses that it requires the protection of High Carbon Stock forests and High Conservation Value areas in all estates within its global supply chain.

Fertiliser and pesticide use
The company discloses quantitative evidence on minimising the use of pesticides in its production and/or sourcing practices. It discloses the chemical usage in oil palm plantations in four countries, chemical usage in sugar farms in Australia and an overall decrease in chemical usage per hectare.

Plastic use and packaging waste
The company has policies and engages in activities to reduce plastic use and transition to sustainable packaging. For instance, it identifies commonly used plastics and increases material efficiency in priority regions and business units. Additionally, it discloses quantitative data with regard to plastic use reduction and use of sustainable packaging.

Soil health and agrobiodiversity
The company discloses activities aimed at improving soil health and agrobiodiversity in its production and sourcing practices. For example, it launched a programme to promote the use of waste decomposers which break down farm residue, enhance soil microorganisms, improve soil texture and structure, and contribute to soil fertility.

Water withdrawal
The company has taken steps to demonstrate a reduction in water withdrawal in its own operations. Specifically, it reports the amount of water withdrawn for its own operations, particularly in areas that are water-stressed. Additionally, the company actively engages with suppliers to minimize water withdrawal.

Clear and transparent labelling
The company discloses its subsidiary Goodman Fielder has adopted the Nutri-score front-of-pack labelling system. Apart from this, this subsidiary has robust internal procedures, systems and processes that ensure regulatory compliance with the strict product marketing and labelling legislation in Australia and New Zealand.

Food safety
The company provides evidence that 100% of its own operations are certified to a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)-recognised food safety scheme. Many of its factories are certified by FSSC 22000 and the others are certified by BRC Global Standard for Food Safety.

Workforce nutrition
The company has implemented workforce nutrition programmes that include nutrition education via consultations with nutritional scientists and dieticians, breastfeeding support (e.g., breastfeeding facilities, postnatal education), and healthy food offerings (e.g., nutritious menus in canteen to improve immune system).

Child labour
The company has implemented an age verification system for all workers involved in its operation and supply chain. Additionally, it enforces a policy that strictly prohibits the use of child labor by its suppliers. In cases where child labor is discovered within its operations, the company takes responsibility by actively participating in and contributing to remediation programs that help affected children transition from work to education. This commitment ensures that children are given the opportunity to attend and continue their education, despite any instances of child labor that may arise within the company.

Farmer and fisher livelihoods
The company works directly with independent smallholders in Indonesia and helps them to achieve RSPO group certification in Sumatra to enable them to establish more permanent relationship with its mills. Further, it has explored innovative approaches to facilitate independent smallholders’ access to affordable financing, improved access to market, and more sustainable agricultural practices for farmers to increase their incomes and for the company to increase future supply of sustainable palm oil production from smallholders.

Forced labour
The company discloses a prohibition to use any recruitment fees or related costs to secure a job and retain workers’ personal documents or restrict workers’ freedom of movement for its operations and supply chain. Furthermore, it discloses that two training programmes were held for its Malaysian suppliers on forced labour and ethical recruitment while in Indonesia, its suppliers were provided training on implementing its NDPE (No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation) Policy.

Health and safety of vulnerable groups
The company recognises health and safety risks for vulnerable groups like women and migrant workers. Additionally, the company is committed to ensuring the well-being of disabled employees at its new packaging factory and will offer free, high-quality accommodation that meets accessibility standards. Furthermore, measures are being implemented to address the specific needs of female employees as assigning them to safer working areas and granting longer resting breaks. Moreover, many factory workers receive free housing, while adequate housing is ensured for all plantation workers, along with access to essential amenities.

Land rights
The company is dedicated to respecting the ownership and utilization of land, as well as the rightful tenure rights associated with natural resources. As part of its business relationships, the company insists on establishing a well-defined process that identifies the legitimate holders of tenure rights. This process places special emphasis on recognizing and accommodating vulnerable or marginalized tenure rights holders. Additionally, the company aims to engage in negotiations with these holders to ensure fair and adequate compensation is provided.

Living wage
The company discloses that it is committed to assessing wages and ensuring that its employees, contractors, and suppliers are paid a living wage. Further, it discloses that its calculations are based on living wage benchmarks of the Global Living Wage Coalition, Wage Indicator Foundation, MIT Living Wage Calculator, and RSPO Living Wage Benchmark. It discloses that in 2022, it assessed 100% of its employees and contractors, guaranteeing that they receive a living wage.

Act ethically
The company discloses a public commitment to protect personal data and a privacy statement on the use of personal data. It also states a global tax strategy.

Additionally, the company has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption, along with a grievance mechanism for stakeholders to raise concerns and complaints. It also specifies that it does not make political contributions in a public policy document.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has a public policy statement committing to workers’ health and safety and extends this commitment to its suppliers. It provides quantitative data on worker health and safety and evidence of supplier monitoring.

The company has achieved paying all workers a living wage, describes the living wage calculation methods for its operational regions, and outlines how it support suppliers in paying a living wage.

The company limits regular work weeks to 48 hours and 60 hours with overtime. It also supports its business relationships in upholding freedom of association and collective bargaining, and discloses that 97% of its workforce is covered by collective bargaining agreements. It reports its workforce composition by gender and age group for each employee category.

Additionally, it outlines its commitment to women’s rights and welfare in its Women’s Charter. It targets to increase female representation on the board of directors to 25% by 2025 and 30% by 2030.

Respect human rights
The company has a policy statement committing it to respect fundamental human rights and the ILO fundamental rights at work in its operations and supply chain.

Furthermore, the company describes the process for identifying human rights risks and impacts in specific activities or locations, covering its operation and value chain. It also has established a human rights grievance mechanism accessible to all workers and external stakeholders who may be adversely impacted by the company.

Additionally, it engages with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities and provides case study describing how it has acted on a salient human rights risk issue.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
The company discloses a remuneration policy related to ESG targets but can further link this policy to improvement in nature-related objectives and social issues. While stating that the board of directors has the expertise in sustainability, 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 including nutrition, climate, water, soil health, social inclusion, ecosystem conversion and biodiversity.

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.

Sustainable development strategy
While the company discloses some sustainability objectives/targets including ecosystem conversion and social inclusion, it has an opportunity to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The company aims to reduce GHG emissions intensity by 15% from all its palm oil mills by 2023. However, it does not have any stated targets to reduce its absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions levels. To improve its performance in addressing climate change, the company has an opportunity to set a time-bound target for reducing its scope 3 GHG emissions, and bring all targets in line with the 1.5-degree trajectory while regularly reporting progress against all its targets.

Ecosystem conversion
The company could disclose time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains.

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

Food loss and waste
The company has an opportunity to disclose its FLW reduction targets and report progress against them. Additionally, the company can align its FLW reduction goal with SDG12.3, which aims for a 50% reduction by 2030.

Soil health and agrobiodiversity
The company has an opportunity to disclose a target to improve soil health in its production or sourcing practices and report progress against it.

Water withdrawal
The company currently discloses reduction targets for water consumption, absolute water use and water intensity. However, there is an opportunity for the company to also disclose a target to reduce water withdrawal within its own operations and provide progress updates on this target.

Accessibility and affordability of nutritious foods
The company has an opportunity to shift its focus from philanthropic to commercial activities to improve the accessibility of nutritious foods, especially for vulnerable groups. It can also implement commercial activities to improve the affordability of nutritious foods. Furthermore, setting targets to improve both the accessibility and affordability of nutritious foods with a particular emphasis on these groups through its commercial activities is an opportunity.

Availability of nutritious foods
The company provides examples of reformulated products. However, there is potential for improvement in reporting its overall efforts to reduce sugar, salt, and fat, and/or increase the presence of positive nutrients in its entire portfolio. Additionally, there is an opportunity for the company to adopt a nutrient profiling system and set a sales-based target to increase the proportion of more nutritious products, aligning with government-endorsed or externally-validated nutritional guidelines.

Clear and transparent labelling
The company has an opportunity to disclose the percentage of products for which its front-of-pack labelling schemes have been rolled out.

Food safety
The company has an opportunity to disclose the percentage of food suppliers certified to a GFSI-recognized food safety scheme.

Responsible marketing
The company can provide evidence of marketing activities to promote heathier and more nutritious food options in accordance with a government-endorsed or externally-validated nutritional guidelines. Moreover, it has an opportunity to disclose a responsible marketing policy specifically tailored to children that is aligned with international codes and guidelines and applicable across all media channels.

Workforce nutrition
The company has an opportunity to disclose quantitative evidence on its healthy food offerings programmes and to expand its nutrition initiatives to its supply chain workers.

Child labour
The company shares its approach to addressing the root causes of labour issues in oil palm plantations. It also conducts training and provides resources to combat child sexual abuse. To enhance transparency, it would be beneficial for the company to detail its direct collaboration with the supply chain in efforts to eradicate child labour.

Farmer and fisher livelihoods
The company has an opportunity to identify living income benchmarks and assess living income gaps for some regions or commodities.

Forced labour
The company discloses information regarding the elimination of forced labour in its supply chain by providing data on related targets and performance. However, it could demonstrate that the performance represents progress in eliminating forced labour in comparison with the previous years.

Health and safety of vulnerable groups
The company defines vulnerable groups but has an opportunity to specifically address vulnerability in terms of health and safety.

Living wage
The company has committed to assessing its suppliers by using its Supplier Reporting Tool (SRT) to determine if they are paying their employees and contractors a living wage. In 2022 it engaged 100% of its suppliers that are part of its SRT programme. However, it could disclose the results of the assessment and set a time-bound target for paying a living wage across its direct suppliers.

Act ethically
The company has an opportunity to include anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with business relationships and to describe the process for identifying its bribery and corruption risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations.

Furthermore, the company has a publicly available policy statement setting out its lobbying approach but could also disclose a public policy statement setting out its approach to political engagement.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has an opportunity to disclose that it has at least 30% women on the board of directors. Moreover, it could disclose the ratio of the basic salary and remuneration of women to men in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category.

Respect human rights
The company discloses that it has identified labour rights and indigenous and local community rights as its most pertinent concerns. However, it could further articulate its process for assessing its human rights risks in its own operations, and reveal what it considers to be its salient human rights issues. Moreover, the company could establish a global system to address its salient human rights issues by implementing preventive, mitigative, or remedial measures.