GS Engineering & Construction

Stakeholder engagement
GS Engineering & Construction discloses an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities. The company discloses how often and through which channels it engages with various stakeholder groups.

Key areas and species
GS Engineering & Construction discloses species populations existing in or adjacent to its own locations, including birds, mammals, fish, herptiles and plants.

Resource exploitation and circularity
GS Engineering & Construction discloses its inputs, including its material footprint. The company discloses the amount of construction materials, water and energy used in all of its domestic and overseas sites and buildings.

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

Sustainability strategy and accountability
GS Engineering & Construction 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. While the company discloses some sustainability targets such as GHG emissions and reports consistently against the targets, no evidence that the company has group wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain based on the SBTN Sectoral Materiality Tool such as water use, air pollutants and soil pollutants could be found in the public domain.
No evidence was found that GS Engineering & Construction 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.

Lobbying
GS Engineering & Construction discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member wherever it operates. However, the company does not disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies. The company does not report (potential) misalignment between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and nature-positive policies.

Impact and dependencies assessment
GS Engineering & Construction 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.

Key areas and species
GS Engineering & Construction does not disclose the locations that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity within its own operations and suppliers. The company does not disclose species populations existing in or adjacent to the locations of its suppliers. The company does not disclose the status according to national and international conservation lists of species identified in its own locations.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
No evidence was found regarding GS Engineering & Construction ‘s efforts to avoid ecosystem conversion. The company has an opportunity to develop a strategy and publicly report on specific, time-bound targets. Meanwhile, the company discloses details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers. The company implements terrestrial and marine ecosystem restoration projects, such as air bubble barrier technology, vegetation nurseries, eco-corridors and wildlife fences.

Resource exploitation and circularity
GS Engineering & Construction does not report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. The company does not disclose efforts to improve soil health.

Water
GS Engineering & Construction demonstrates it is reducing water withdrawal in its own operations. However, the company does not disclose a time-bound target to reduce water withdrawal across its own operations. The company does not report how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas. The company does not engage with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal.
GS Engineering & Construction reports a decrease in water pollution. The company discloses its practice of high-concentration nitrogen removal technology and site-saving sewage treatment technology to improve its wastewater treatment and reduce water quality pressures. While the company discloses its practice of conducting environmental impact assessments, it is unclear with the detailed process for managing and monitoring discharge water quality. The company regularly reports on BOD, SS and COD as its water quality parameters. The company does not disclose targets to reduce water pollution. The company does not disclose a commitment to respect the right to water. The company does not disclose its processes for implementing preventive and corrective action plans for identified specific risks to the right to water and sanitation in its own operations.

Solid and air pollution
GS Engineering & Construction is reducing the production of hazardous waste. No evidence that the company reduces plastic use and waste in its own operations was found. The company does not report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal. The company does not report on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants. The company does not report time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

GHG emissions
GS Engineering & Construction is reducing its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions compared to the previous year. The company sets a target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions by 10.62% by 2030 and 31.86% by 2050 compared to the baseline year in 2018, reporting progress against its target. No evidence that the company’s scope 1 and 2 emissions target is aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory was found. No evidence that GS Engineering & Construction reduces its scope 3 emissions was found. The company does not disclose a time-bound target to reduce its scope 3 emissions.

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

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
GS Engineering & Construction does not disclose a commitment to respecting local communities’ right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment or to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders.

Indigenous peoples’ and land rights
GS Engineering & Construction does not disclose a commitment to respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights or land rights of local communities.

While GS Engineering & Construction discloses that it conducts due diligence in general, it has an opportunity to specify that it conducts human rights due diligence that includes a process for identifying human rights risks and impacts through its business relationships. While GS Engineering & Construction states that it conducted the assessment on 12 human rights issues and the result indicated that there was almost no possibility of the risk occurrence, no evidence that the company describes its process(es) and discloses what it considers to be its salient human rights issues and that it has a global system to act on these issues. While the company discloses the categories of stakeholders it engages with generally on sustainability issues, it is not clear if these stakeholders are those whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities. No evidence that the company provides examples of its engagement with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities was found.

GS Engineering & Construction has a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers. No evidence that the company has a publicly available statement of policy that expects its suppliers to commit to respecting the health and safety of their workers was found. While the company states that it operates a performance-based remuneration system to ensure reasonable remuneration, it 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. While the company discloses that it discusses a wage agreement with the labour union every year, no evidence that it provides a living wage to its employees. No evidence that the company describes how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers was found. The company has an opportunity to disclose the coverage of collective bargaining agreements. The company has an opportunity to describe how it works to support the practices of its suppliers in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

GS Engineering & Construction has an opportunity to publish a global tax strategy and should assign responsibility for this strategy to an executive-level individual or body. No evidence that the company describes the process for identifying its bribery and corruption risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations was found. No evidence that the company includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with business relationships was found. The company outlines its approach to lobbying and political engagement but does not formalise this approach in a public policy document. The company specifies that it does not make political contributions.