Aeon

Stakeholder engagement
Aeon discloses the channels it uses to engage with its stakeholder groups.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Aeon 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 and reports consistently against all its targets.

GHG emissions
Although the company’s scope 1 and 2 emissions targets do not cover all of its operations, they are aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
Aeon discloses activities to improve soil health or agrobiodiversity in its production or sourcing practices.

Solid and air pollution
Aeon demonstrates commitment, has policies and partakes in activities related to plastic use reduction and transitioning towards sustainable packaging. It discloses quantitative data, including the proportion of plastic recycled and directed for reuse as raw material.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the social inclusion and community impact area.

Act ethically
Aeon includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships.

Provide and promote decent work
Aeon has a public expectation that its business relationships shall not require workers to work more than 48 hours in a regular work week or 60 hours including overtime. On gender equality and women’s empowerment, the company discloses the proportion of women in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category and has set targets to increase the ratio of female managers.

Respect human rights
Aeon has a publicly available policy statement that outlines its commitment to respecting human rights, as well as a statement expecting their suppliers to respect ILO core labor rights. The company discloses its human rights due diligence process by describing how it identifies and assesses human rights risks and impacts throughout their operations and supply chain, as well as what they consider to be their most significant human rights risks. Moreover, the company provides a case study that illustrates how they have taken action to address a significant human rights risk.

Lobbying
Aeon has an opportunity to disclose a list of trade associations it is a member of. Additionally, it can provide a clear and detailed framework for assessing how aligned its trade associations are with its sustainability targets and report any potential misalignments.

Stakeholder engagement
Aeon has an opportunity to disclose an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Aeon discloses some sustainability objectives/targets including climate and social inclusion. However, there is an opportunity to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain. Additionally, it could link performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover nature, including biodiversity, and social issues. Lastly, the company has an opportunity to disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise with respect to the company’s most material sustainability topics.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
Aeon does not disclose a commitment to minimise ecosystem conversion or to ensure zero conversion. The company also does not disclose activities to minimise ecosystem conversion. While the company discloses some evidence of addressing conversion, this does not guarantee DCF-aligned practices. Finally, while the company has a target to achieve conversion-free supply chains, certification models are not specified so there is no guarantee that it is DCF-aligned.
Furthermore, Aeon is not committed to restoring ecosystems and it does not disclose details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers.

GHG emissions
Aeon should set time-bound targets to reduce its scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions as well as report progress against them. The company discloses that in FY 2021 there is a 14% reduction in its CO2 emissions compared with FY2010 levels. However, its quantitative reductions for its scope 1 and 2 emissions is unclear. Crucially, the company needs to reduce its scope 1,2 and 3 emissions and its targets need to align with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Impact and dependencies assessment
Aeon has an opportunity to disclose assessments of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, within its own operations and in its supply chain. It also has the opportunity to disclose its dependencies on nature within its own operations and upstream business relationships.

Invasive species
Aeon has not identified any activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive alien species in its own operations.

Key areas and species
Aeon has an opportunity to disclose locations within or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity, both in its own operations and its supplier locations. While the company discloses that it did nature surveys in some areas to identify species and discloses the examples of the species, it has an opportunity to disclose all species existing in or adjacent to both its own and its suppliers’ locations, as well as the conservation status of species identified at its own sites according to national and international lists.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
Aeon has an opportunity to disclose its inputs according to an international standard, and to report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. The company also has an opportunity to disclose a target to improve soil health in its production or sourcing practices and to report progress against it.

Solid and air pollution
Aeon should commit to avoid developing or marketing new chemicals or products with SVHC (substance of very high concern) properties, as well as work on reducing the production of hazardous substances and waste. It has an opportunity to report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal. The company could also report on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants and disclose time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

Water
Aeon does not disclose relevant information related to water, in its operations or supply chains.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
Aeon does not disclose a commitment to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Also, the company does not disclose its processes to identify and recognise the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights, and describes how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
Aeon has an opportunity to commit to respecting local communities’ right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders. Moreover, it should track its actual or potential negative impacts on the health of local communities.

Act ethically
Aeon has an opportunity to disclose a publicly available policy statement prohibiting bribery and corruption, as well as its process for identifying these practices in its operations and a grievance mechanism which allows stakeholders to raise related complaints. Further, the company could clarify its stance on lobbying and political engagement in a public policy document, specify that it does not make any political contributions, and divulge how much it spends on lobbying activities.

Provide and promote decent work
While Aeon states it will support the health of employees, the company could to disclose a policy statement committing it to respect the health and safety of workers as well as how it monitors the health and safety performance of its suppliers. Furthermore, the company has an opportunity to disclose a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage, describe how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates, and how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers. Finally, Aeon has an opportunity to disclose a commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment, as well as the basic salary and remuneration of women to men in its workforce. Further, the company could work towards increasing the representation of women on its highest governance body.