Charoen Pokphand Group

Lobbying
Charoen Pokphand Group discloses some trade associations of which it is a member.

Stakeholder engagement
Charoen Pokphand Group discloses how it engages with stakeholders, the issues raised during such activities, and the outcomes of its stakeholder engagement, beyond materiality assessment. Moreover, its stakeholder engagement activities cover nature, nutrition, and social areas.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Charoen Pokphand Group 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.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
Charoen Pokphand Group has a commitment to ensure zero conversion.

GHG emissions
Charoen Pokphand Group discloses its target to achieve carbon neutrality in its own operations i.e. 42% reduction in its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030 and it reports progress against these scope 1 and 2 targets. The company has a time-bound target to reduce its scope 3 emissions as well and all its targets are aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Invasive species
Charoen Pokphand Group identifies the activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive alien species in its own operations.

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

Solid and air pollution
Charoen Pokphand Group has committed to not develop products with SVHC (substance of very high concern) properties and it is reducing the production of hazardous waste. It also discloses the proportion of hazardous waste diverted from disposal and disposed by type. The company reports regularly on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants. It also partakes in activities and discloses quantitative data related to plastic use reduction and transitioning towards sustainable packaging.

Water
Charoen Pokphand Group has a time-bound target to reduce water withdrawal in its own operations and reports progress against the target. The company reports how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas, and engages with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. Additionally, Charoen Pokphand Group demonstrates reducing water withdrawal in its own operations, and regularly reports on water pollution. The company discloses its processes for implementing preventive and corrective action plans for identified specific risks to the right to water and sanitation in its own operations. Finally, Charoen Pokphand Group works with its business relationships to improve their practices regarding access to water and sanitation.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
Charoen Pokphand Group is committed to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Also, the company discloses 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
Charoen Pokphand Group is committed to respecting local communities’ right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The company demonstrates that its human rights risks and impacts identification process includes a focus on the health of local communities. Finally, the company is committed to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders.

Act ethically
Charoen Pokphand Group demonstrates a public commitment to safeguarding personal data and provides a privacy statement outlining its use. Additionally, the company discloses a policy that prohibits bribery and corruption and provides a grievance mechanism in place for stakeholders to raise related issues. Lastly, the company is transparent about its lobbying expenditures by disclosing these publicly.

Provide and promote decent work
Charoen Pokphand Group has a publicly available policy statement in which it commits to respecting the health and safety of workers, as well as a statement expecting its suppliers to make the same commitment. Further Charoen Pokphand Group discloses quantitative information on the health and safety of its own workers and describes how it monitors the performance of its suppliers on the issue.

The company also discloses that 100% of its total direct operations workforce is covered by collective bargaining agreements. Further, the company discloses the proportion of women in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category as well as a commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Respect human rights
Charoen Pokphand Group has a publicly available policy statement that commits it to respecting human rights. It actively engages with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities and discloses examples. Further, the company demonstrates that it has a human rights grievance mechanism that is accessible to workers and other external stakeholders who may be adversely impacted by its operations.

Lobbying
Charoen Pokphand Group has an opportunity to disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with its sustainability targets and to report (potential) misalignments.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Charoen Pokphand Group discloses some sustainability objectives/targets including social inclusion and climate. However, there is an opportunity to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain. Also, while the company discloses a remuneration policy related to sustainability, it could link this policy to improvement in nature-related objectives and social issues. Lastly, the company could improve its transparency by disclosing whether its highest governance body has expertise with respect to the company’s most material sustainability topics.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
Charoen Pokphand Group does not have time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains. While it discloses some evidence of addressing conversion, this does not guarantee DCF-aligned practices. Furthermore, the company 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
Charoen Pokphand Group should report progress against its scope 3 targets and reduce its scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions.

Impact and dependencies assessment
Charoen Pokphand Group integrates ecosystems into its business risk management framework and has conducted a natural capital assessment using a WBCSD framework. It also employs the TNFD Beta 0.4 framework and LEAP approach to manage its nature-related risks, opportunities, dependencies, and impacts. Using TNFD-recommended tools like IBAT, Global Forest Watch, Encore, and Aqueduct, the company has assessed its sites’ global locations in relation to ecosystem types, biomes, and biodiversity importance. While the company has made strides in these areas, it has an opportunity to disclose the comprehensive results of these assessments. Additionally, the company could clarify whether these frameworks and methodologies extend to evaluating the dependencies on nature of its upstream business relationships, and to disclose the comprehensive results thereof.

Invasive species
No evidence was found that Charoen Pokphand Group identifies the activities that could lead to the introduction of IAS in its value chain.

Key areas and species
While Charoen Pokphand Group has disclosed the number of aquatic species near artificial reefs and species in the IUCN Red List within a 50-km radius of their sites, there’s room to fully identify all species existing near its operations. It has also screened biodiversity risks for 351 sites in Thailand using the Integrated Assessment Tool (IBAT), revealing 16% of its sites are within 5 km of protected areas. However, the company can enhance transparency by disclosing the specific names and locations of these sites and adjacent high-biodiversity areas. Additionally, the company has an opportunity to disclose the locations of its suppliers in or near biodiversity-sensitive zones and species near these supplier sites, as well as align the status of these species with national and international conservation lists.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
Charoen Pokphand Group 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
Charoen Pokphand Group has an opportunity to report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal. While the company avoids the use of hazardous chemicals, it has an opportunity to go beyond legal requirements and voluntary reduce their production. It could also disclose time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

Water
Charoen Pokphand Group does not disclose its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality, does not report a decrease in water pollution, and does not disclose targets to reduce water pollution. The company has an opportunity to strengthen its language in its support of the water rights of local communities.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
Charoen Pokphand Group does not disclose its processes to identify and recognize the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights or describes how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
Charoen Pokphand Group discloses its human rights risk management measures and one of the salient issues is Environmental Pollution Affecting Human Rights. The company also specifies that impacted stakeholders are communities surrounding operating sites which are 3. However, this should include both scale (the outcome of the impact; frequency) and scope (the number of individuals who are or could be affected; frequency; geographies). Hence, no evidence found that the company tracks its actual or potential negative impacts on the health of local communities.

Act ethically
Charoen Pokphand Group could disclose that it includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with business relationships, as well as describe the process for identifying its bribery and corruption risks and impacts. Further, the company has an opportunity to disclose its approach to lobbying and political engagement in a public policy document, as well as specify that it does not make political contributions.

Provide and promote decent work
Charoen Pokphand Group 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, and describe how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates. Furthermore, it could disclose how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers. Finally, the company has an opportunity to disclose the ratio of the basic salary and remuneration of women to men in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category, by significant locations of operation.

Respect human rights
The company has an opportunity to disclose a policy statement committing it to respect the human rights that the ILO has declared to be fundamental rights at work, and publicly expect its suppliers to make the same commitment. Further, Charoen Pokphand Group can increase disclosure on its process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts across its supply chain.