Asahi Group

Stakeholder engagement
Asahi Group discloses the channels it uses to engage with its stakeholder groups and its stakeholder engagement activities encompass nature, including biodiversity, nutrition and social issues.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Asahi Group has group-wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain and reports consistently against all its targets.

GHG emissions
Asahi Group has time-bound targets to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions as well as reports against them. Additionally, its scope 1 and 2 targets are aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory. The company has also a time-bound target to reduce its scope 3 emissions.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
Asahi Group transparently shares information about its inputs, such as its material footprint. It also discloses its efforts to enhance soil health and agrobiodiversity within its production and sourcing practices.

Solid and air pollution
Asahi Group has policies, partakes in activities and discloses quantitative data related to plastic use reduction and transitioning towards sustainable packaging. Additionally, the company reports regularly on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants.

Water
Asahi Group discloses its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality. It also reports how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas and engages with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. Additionally, the company regularly reports on, and show a decrease in, its water pollution.

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

Act ethically
Asahi Group discloses a global tax strategy. Additionally, the company has a strict policy in place that prohibits bribery and corruption. It also ensures that contracts with direct business relationships contain explicit anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses. Suppliers are expected to comply with widely accepted business practices regarding matters such as entertainment or gifts, and are required to actively work against corruption.

Provide and promote decent work
The Asahi Group has a publicly available policy statement in which it pledges to prioritise the health and safety of all workers. The company disclosed that 65.1% of its employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements in 2021. Additionally, it not only requires its suppliers, but also their subcontractors, to prioritise the health and safety of their workers.

Since 2021, the company has been a signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles, demonstrating its commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. Furthermore, it provides information on the gender proportions in managerial positions, such as directors, audit & supervisory board members, and corporate officers. It also discloses the breakdown of genders among its total employees and board of directors. Lastly, the company has set a target to increase female representation to 40% by 2030, which it has made public.

Respect human rights
Asahi Group has a publicly available policy statement committing it to upholding the International Labour Organization (ILO) core labour rights and respecting human rights. To ensure compliance with this commitment, the company conducts human rights due diligence in line with the UN Guiding Principles.

Specifically, the company focuses on identifying human rights risks within its supply chain, particularly with primary raw material suppliers and high-risk categories. To aid in this process, the company enlisted the services of RightsDD Limited, who conducted an impact assessment in the coffee industry in Ethiopia and Tanzania. This assessment involved interviews and surveys to identify potential risks.

The company demonstrates its commitment to addressing salient human rights issues by taking proactive actions. For example, it conducted surveys and interviews with technical interns to improve labour conditions and combat forced labour. Furthermore, the company actively engages with stakeholders whose rights may be impacted. The company maintains a confidential whistle-blower scheme called the Clean Line System, accessible to all workers, allowing them to raise complaints or concerns.

Lobbying
While the company states that it cooperates with trade associations, it has an opportunity to disclose a list of trade associations of which it is a member for all jurisdictions where it operates. Additionally, it could disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with its sustainability targets and to report (potential) misalignments.

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

Sustainability strategy and accountability
While the company states that it has a materiality assessment, it has an opportunity to disclose its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability topics and impacts. This should include how external stakeholders are involved in the process. Additionally, although it discloses a remuneration policy related to sustainability, it could link this policy to improvement in nature-related objectives and social issues. Lastly, the company states that the board of directors has expertise in ESG. However, it 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
No evidence was found regarding the company’s efforts to avoid ecosystem conversion, including deforestation, or promote restoration. The company has an opportunity to develop a strategy and publicly report on specific, time-bound targets.

GHG emissions
The company should reduce its scope 3 targets and report progress against its scope 3 targets. It should also align its scope 3 targets with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Impact and dependencies assessment
The company acknowledges the environmental impacts of its agricultural activities and has even formulated an Environmental Vision for 2050. However, it has an opportunity to enhance transparency by providing detailed information on the methodology used to assess these impacts, specifically regarding nature and biodiversity. Additionally, while the company recognises that its operations rely on natural resources like water and agricultural material, it could strengthen its disclosures by assessing how it is dependent on these elements of nature both within its own operations and upstream business relationships.

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

Key areas and species
While the company has highlighted the biodiversity of its fifteen mountains and conducted surveys on its agricultural raw materials’ sites, it still has an opportunity to further disclose detailed species data in or adjacent to its locations. Additionally, revealing locations near vital biodiversity areas, both within its operations and those of its suppliers, and the status of species based on national and international conservation lists would enhance its transparency.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
The company does not report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. It has an opportunity to disclose a target to improve soil health in its production or sourcing practices and report progress against it.

Solid and air pollution
The company 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 disclose time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

Water
The company reports an increase in water consumption. Also, while it discloses reduction targets related to water intensity, it has an opportunity to disclose a target to reduce water withdrawal across its own operations and report progress against it. Additionally, the company does not disclose targets to reduce water pollution. Furthermore, it does not disclose a commitment to respect the right to water, nor its processes for implementing preventive and corrective action plans for identified specific risks to the right to water and sanitation in its own operations.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company does not disclose a commitment to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Also, it 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 describe how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The company 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
The company should provide a clear description of its process for identifying bribery and corruption risks and its impacts, specifically in relation to its own operations in certain locations or activities. It is also important for the company to ensure that its mechanism for stakeholders to raise concerns about bribery and corruption is accessible to all stakeholders.

Additionally, the company has an opportunity to develop a policy that outlines its approach to lobbying and political engagement. While the company states that it follows its own procedures and complies with laws and regulations when making political contributions, it would be beneficial to disclose whether these contributions are only made by exception and the criteria for making them.

Moreover, the company could disclose its expenditures on lobbying activities. It could also require third-party lobbyists to comply with the company’s lobbying and political engagement policy.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has an opportunity to disclose whether it has established a time-bound target for ensuring all workers receive a living wage or if it has already achieved this goal. Additionally, the company could explain its process for determining what constitutes a living wage in the regions where it operates. While the company expects its suppliers to pay a living wage, it also has the opportunity to provide details on how it actively supports and encourages this practice.

Regarding gender diversity, the company currently has 3 out of 13 board members who are female, resulting in a representation of women on the board at 23.07%. It has an opportunity to increase female representation to at least 30%.

Lastly, the company can disclose the ratio of basic salary and other remuneration between women and men in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category, specifically in significant locations where it operates.

Respect human rights
While the company expects its suppliers to respect specific workers’ rights, it has an opportunity to reference all the International Labour Organization (ILO) fundamental rights at work. Although the company discloses that it conducts human rights risk assessments and remediates in Japan, it should also consider disclosing a global system to address all its salient human rights issues in all of its activities.