Chipotle Mexican Grill

Lobbying
Chipotle Mexican Grill discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Chipotle Mexican Grill 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. Also, it provides evidence of linking performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover nature, including biodiversity, and social issues.

GHG emissions
Chipotle Mexican Grill discloses a target of reducing absolute scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% and scope 3 emissions by 50% by 2030 from a 2019 base year. These targets are also aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Solid and air pollution
Chipotle Mexican Grill demonstrates commitment to plastic use reduction and transitioning towards sustainable packaging.

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

Act ethically
Chipotle Mexican Grill has a policy on prohibiting bribery and corruption and includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its business relationships’ contracts. Additionally, it discloses a public commitment to protect personal data.

Provide and promote decent work
Chipotle Mexican Grill has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect the health and safety of workers in its own operations and supply chain. It also reports the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by race or ethnicity. Currently, women make up 33% of its board.

Respect human rights
Chipotle Mexican Grill has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights, along with a grievance mechanism accessible to all workers and external stakeholders who may be adversely impacted by the company.

Lobbying
The company 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.

Stakeholder engagement
The company has an opportunity to disclose an overview of the issues raised by each stakeholder group during its stakeholder engagement activities and to describe its process, including frequency and channels, for engaging with stakeholder groups, beyond its materiality assessment.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
While the company discloses some sustainability objectives/targets including climate, biodiversity and social inclusion, it has an opportunity to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain. Furthermore, it could 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 report progress against targets and reduce its scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.

Impact and dependencies assessment
The company has an opportunity to disclose assessments of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, within its own operations and in its supply chain. It could also disclose its dependencies on nature 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 aims to identify key biodiversity hotspot areas by 2025, it still has an opportunity to disclose its current locations that are within or adjacent to important areas for biodiversity. Similarly, disclosing the locations of suppliers in or adjacent to biodiversity-rich areas is another area for improvement. Additionally, the company could benefit from sharing the status of species at its own locations and supplier locations according to national and international conservation lists.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
No evidence was found regarding the company’s efforts to work towards a circular economy or which organisms it exploits. The company has an opportunity to develop a strategy and publicly report on specific, time-bound targets.

Solid and air pollution
The company does not disclose relevant information related to pollution in its operations or supply chains.

Water
The company has an opportunity to reduce water withdrawal in its own operations, set targets, and engage with suppliers to further reduce water withdrawal. Additionally, it does not disclose relevant information on water pollution. Furthermore, 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
The company has an opportunity to establish a process to identify and address risks and impacts associated with bribery and corruption. Currently, it has a mechanism in place for stakeholders to raise concerns about bribery and corruption. However, it could further clarify if this mechanism is accessible to all stakeholders and if individuals can choose to identify themselves or remain anonymous when making a complaint.
Furthermore, the company has made its policy statement on lobbying, personal political activities, and engagement with government officials publicly available. However, it could further elaborate on its political engagement strategy and emphasise its non-participation in political contributions, or alternatively, state the criteria for any exceptions that may exist. It could also transparently disclose all lobbying expenditures.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has stated that it may conduct inspections, audits, and evaluations to assess suppliers’ business practices, records, facilities, and housing accommodations if provided. However, it has an opportunity to provide evidence of how it monitors suppliers’ compliance with its health and safety standards for workers.
In addition, the company could establish a time-bound target to ensure all workers receive a living wage and describe the methodology used to determine a living wage in the regions where it operates. While the company has set expectations for the wages paid by its suppliers, it can further strengthen its requirements by including a mandate for suppliers to pay a living wage and disclosing how it supports this payment.
Furthermore, although the company has expressed its commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment, it can enhance its efforts by translating these statements into a public policy document and disclosing a related time-bound target. It could also disclose the ratio of basic salary and remuneration between women and men.

Respect human rights
The company has an opportunity to strengthen its commitment to the ILO’s fundamental rights at work by clarifying whether the commitment is applicable across all contexts and locations. While it expects suppliers to respect specific workers’ rights, the company could broaden its focus to encompass all the ILO fundamental rights at work.
Additionally, the company could describe the process for identifying human rights risks and impacts in specific activities or locations, covering both its operation and value chain, as well as the process for assessing and identifying its salient human right issues. Moreover, it could establish a global system to address its salient human rights issues by implementing preventive, mitigative, or remedial measures.