Beiersdorf

Lobbying
The company discloses a list of industry associations in the cosmetics sector of which it is a member.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
The company discloses its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability impacts in relation to its sustainability strategy, and links senior executive’s remuneration to the company’s sustainability performance.

GHG emissions
The company discloses time-bound targets to reduce its scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and reports quantitative reductions against the targets. Its targets are aligned with the SBTi 1.5°C trajectory.

Key areas and species
The company states that there are no IUCN Red List species identified affected by Beiersdorf operations.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
While the company discloses its materials used by weight or volume for packaging materials including non-renewable and renewable packaging materials as well as the proportion of recycled input materials used in packaging, the disclosure is limited to its consumer segment, indicating an opportunity for further improvement in this area.

Solid and air pollution
The company discloses quantitative data with regards to plastic use reduction and use of sustainable packaging. It has a target to reduce fossil-based virgin plastics in packaging, and reprots against it.

Water
The company works with its business relationships to improve their practices regarding access to water and sanitation. The company reports on its withdrawals from water-stressed areas. The company reports a decrease in water pollution and discloses its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality. . The company requires its suppliers to minimize their impact on water by reducing their water consumption in its Code of Conduct.

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

Act ethically
The company prohibits bribery and corruption through a publicly available policy statement and a code of conduct for business partners, stating that breaches could lead to termination of business relationships. It conducts regular compliance risk assessments (CRAs) as part of its compliance management system, based on established standards such as the IDW AsS 980, following the principles of ‘Prevent, Detect, React and Improve’. It involves specialist functions and the corporate auditing department in these assessments and investigations. The company also offers a confidential reporting system accessible via phone, email, and a website, allowing stakeholders to raise concerns anonymously and without fear of reprisal.

Provide and promote decent work
The company commits to worker health and safety, with a policy requiring its business relationships to adhere to safety standards like ISO 45001. It conducts annual safety audits aligned with international standards at all its facilities. Additionally, it engages in gender equality initiatives, having signed the Women’s Empowerment Principles, and partners with organisations such as the LEAD Network and Shape Talent to promote gender equality. It aims for 35% women in first management level and 50% in second management level by 2026. The company also reports a 41.66% female representation on its board.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available policy, approved by its highest governance body, committing to respect human rights in accordance with international standards. This policy extends to their business relationships, demanding compliance with ILO fundamental rights. Prohibitions include child labour, human trafficking, and all forms of forced labour. They enforce stringent anti-discrimination measures covering a wide array of personal characteristics including gender, colour, race, age, religion, ideology, etc. Moreover, the company supports the rights of workers to unionise and engage in collective bargaining, providing alternatives where such rights are legally restricted.

Lobbying
The company has an opportunity to disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with its sustainability targets, as well as potential misalignments between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and its sustainability targets.

Stakeholder engagement
While the company discloses an overview of its stakeholder engagement plan, it has an opportunity to disclose more comprehensive details including an overview of the issues raised or its process for engaging with stakeholder groups, including frequency and channels.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
No evidence was found that the company links performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover nature, including biodiversity, and social issues. The company does not disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise regarding nature-related topics. The company does not report consistently against all of its targets.

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.

Impact and dependencies assessment
The company has not holistically assessed its impacts or how it depends on nature, including biodiversity. It has an opportunity to start such an assessment across its value chains, focused on quantification of its impacts or dependencies.

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
The company discloses that none of its operations are in or adjacent to protected areas or areas of high biodiversity value outside protected areas. However, no evidence found that it discloses the methodology or tools employed to confirm this. The company does not disclose the locations of its suppliers that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity, species populations adjacent to the locations of its suppliers. The company does not disclose all species populations existing in or adjacent to its own locations.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
The company does not report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance.
The company has an opportunity to disclose activities to improve soil health or agrobiodiversity in its production or sourcing practices.
The company 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 is not reducing the production of hazardous substances and does not commit to avoiding the development or marketing of new chemicals or products with SVHC (substance of very high concern) properties. Additionally, it is not reducing the production of hazardous waste and does not report on the amount of plastic waste generated or the proportions directed to or diverted from disposal. It also does not report metrics on air pollutants, nor set time-bound targets to reduce them.

Water
While the company shows reductions in water consumption and sets are target, the company uses intensity metrics, and does not necessarily correspond to absolute reductions. The company does not regularly report on water pollution metrics or report targets to reduce water pollution. The company 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 show if it is committed to respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights or land rights of local communities.

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
No policy details are provided regarding lobbying and political engagement. The company specifies non-financial political contributions but lacks broader political contribution guidelines. It has an opportunity to clearly disclose its lobbying expenditures and establish compliance requirements for third-party lobbyists.

Provide and promote decent work
The company reports on accident frequency rates and high-consequence injuries but lacks complete data on work-related fatalities and injury types. It claims compliance with or exceeds local wage standards but does not ensure these are sufficient for a decent living. There are no living wage goals stated nor strategies to support living wage practices among its business partners. The company’s documentation of gender-related salary ratios does not extend across all operational levels, and it has an opportunity to make a broad commitment or specific, quantifiable goals for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Respect human rights
The company provides a public statement prohibiting specific human rights abuses but lacks clarity in its commitment to fundamental rights at work and collective bargaining. It identifies risks associated with human rights within its operations and supply chain; however, it lacks a clear description of the processes used and does not disclose assessment results. The company has an opportunity to define and disclose its processes for human rights risk assessments clearly and to develop a global system for addressing, mitigating, or remediating its identified human rights risks, applying these measures consistently across its operations and supply chain.