Holcim

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Holcim has committed to a nature-positive future by achieving measurable positive impact on biodiversity by 2030, based on the Global Biodiversity Indicator Reporting System developed by IUCN. It also includes a clear timeline for achieving this goal. The company discloses how it applies the mitigation hierarchy and clearly discloses the actions it has taken on each step.

Lobbying
Holcim discloses a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies.

Impact and dependencies assessment
While Holcim has demonstrated its commitment to assessing its impacts on nature by conducting site assessments across its own operations, it has room for improvement by also assessing the impacts at business model level. Furthermore, through its integrated profit and loss statement, the company reports that it assesses its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, and the upstream activities of its value chain. The company has used the same statement to quantify its impacts on nature, including biodiversity.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company has a time-bound target for its ecosystem restoration activities, included in its commitment to the Global Biodiversity Indicator Reporting System, which will cover all managed land by 2024.

Water
The company has reported different targets for their different production segments namely: cement, aggregates and ready-mix concrete that lead the company to reducing their water withdrawals across their operations. The company has a time-bound target to reduce water withdrawal, specific to each of its production segments, including a 10% reduction in cement, 9% reduction in aggregates and 11% reduction in ready-mix. The company has committed to 100% of its water discharges meeting Holcim’s water quality standards. The company has a commitment to respect the right to water and is a signatory of the CEO Water Mandate. Through its communities and stakeholder engagement directive, Holcim 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.

Solid and air pollution
The company discloses the proportion of hazardous waste treated to reduce pollution compared to total waste, the hazardous waste diverted from disposal and the waste directed to disposal. The company has time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain, specific to each of the air pollutants it reports on. The company reports regularly on progress against these targets.

GHG emissions
Holcim has committed to reducing scope 1 and 2 emissions by 95% per ton of cementitious from a 2018 base year, which is aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory. Further, it has committed to reducing its scope 3 emissions by 90% by 2050, which is also aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

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, as part of its human rights and social policy.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
The company 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, no evidence was found that the company has group-wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain. The company reports consistently on progress against all its targets. While the company reports that it links performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover nature, no further criteria regarding social issues were disclosed. The company does not disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise regarding nature-related topics.

Stakeholder engagement
While Holcim discloses the priority issues for each of its stakeholder groups, it does not disclose how it engages with stakeholders, nor the issues it raises during such activities.

Lobbying
The company discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member wherever it operates. However, it does not report any misalignment between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and nature-positive policies.

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

Key areas and species
While Holcim discloses the number of sites in or close to areas important for biodiversity, it does not disclose the name or location of these sites. Nor does it disclose the locations of its suppliers that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity. The company does not disclose species populations existing in or adjacent to its own locations or to the locations of its suppliers. While the company discloses some data based on IUCN Red List and national conservation lists, it has not collated this information globally.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
No evidence was found regarding the company’s efforts to avoid ecosystem conversion, including deforestation. The company has an opportunity to develop a strategy and publicly report on specific, time-bound targets. In its quarry rehabilitation and biodiversity directive, the company discloses its commitments to restoring ecosystems. The company discloses details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers. For example, 93% of quarries have rehabilitation plans in place and 94% of quarries of high biodiversity importance have biodiversity management plans in place.

Resource exploitation and circularity
While Holcim discloses its recycling efforts, no evidence was found regarding its efforts to work towards a circular economy. The company has an opportunity to develop a strategy and publicly report on specific, time-bound targets. The company discloses its Base Vial building solution, which aims to improve soil health or agrobiodiversity in its production or sourcing practices. However, it does not disclose a target to improve soil health in its production or sourcing practices.

Water
While Holcim discloses information regarding its water withdrawal, withdrawal across its own operations increased. The company reports how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas. The company does not engage with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. The company does not report a decrease in water pollution. The company does not disclose its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality, nor does it regularly report on water pollution.

Solid and air pollution
No evidence that the company is reducing the production of hazardous waste was found. No evidence that the company is reducing 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 reports regularly on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants, including dust, NOx, SO2, VOC, mercury, dioxins and heavy metals.

GHG emissions
While the company reports its greenhouse gas emissions, its scope 1 and 2 emissions increased. While the company has a target to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions, it does not report reductions. Moreover, its scope 3 emissions increased. This is despite the company having a target to reduce scope 3 emissions.

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

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The company does not disclose a commitment to respect local communities’ right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. No evidence that the company tracks its actual or potential negative impacts on the health of local communities was found. The company is not committed to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
While the company mentions ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in its human rights directive, this does not translate into a commitment to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights. The company does not disclose its processes for identifying and recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights, nor does it describe how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent. The company does not disclose a commitment to respect ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights, as set out in the relevant part(s) of the VGGTs or the IFC Performance Standards. While Holcim states in its business code of conduct that suppliers in all their activities shall be covered by land rights, no evidence was found that the company requires its business relationships to have a process to identify legitimate tenure rightsholders, paying particular attention to vulnerable or marginalised tenure rightsholders, and to negotiate with them to provide adequate compensation.

The company describes the process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations. The company also describes the process for identifying human rights risks and impacts in its business relationships. The company describes its process(es) for assessing its human rights risks and discloses what it considers to be its salient human rights issues. In addition, the company describes its global system to take action to prevent, mitigate or remediate salient human rights issues, and this includes a description of how its global system applies to its supply chain. The company discloses categories of stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities. It also engages with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities.

Holcim has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect the health and safety of its own workers and expecting its suppliers to do the same. While the company states it provides fair compensation for work, no evidence was found that it has a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage. Neither was evidence found that the company describes how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates. While Holcim expects its suppliers to pay the local industry rate or minimum wage stipulated by national law, no evidence was found that the company describes how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers. The company has an opportunity to disclose the coverage of collective bargaining agreements. The company also has an opportunity to describe how it works to support the practices of its suppliers in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

The company discloses a global tax strategy. While Holcim describes the process for identifying bribery and corruption risks before engaging with a third party, no evidence was found that the company describes the process for identifying its bribery and corruption risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations. The company includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships. In a public policy statement, the company discloses its approach to lobbying and political engagement. The company states that it does not make political contributions but does not formalise this commitment in a public policy document.