Marks & Spencer

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses an overview of the issues raised during stakeholder engagement, its channels of engagement, as well as how responses are integrated into its sustainability strategy.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
The company provides evidence that its highest governance body has expertise on sustainability related issues.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company discloses some activities to achieve conversion-free supply chains for soy and palm oil. The company discloses the proportion of soy and palm oil which are conversion-free. The company is committed to restoring ecosystems.

GHG emissions
The company reduces its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions. The company has a time-bound target to reduce its scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, which are aligned with the 1.5-degree trajectory. The company reports progress against its scope 1 and 2 targets.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
The company discloses activities to improve soil health or agrobiodiversity in its production or sourcing practices.

Solid and air pollution
The company discloses engaging with a number of initiatives to reduce the use of hazardous chemicals. The company reports quantitative reductions in its plastic use in various sectors. The company discloses its target to reduce plastic use, and reports against the target.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company requires its business relationships to adhere to the practice of free and prior informed consent (FPIC) when using, leasing, and purchasing land, including acknowledging the rights of Indigenous Peoples in giving or withholding said consent.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The company provides a policy commitment to not tolerate threats, intimidation, physical or legal attacks against human rights defenders.

Act ethically
The company maintains a publicly available policy statement that prohibits bribery and corruption, emphasising a zero-tolerance approach in its business operations. It also includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in contracts with business partners, requiring compliance with relevant laws and explicitly prohibiting corrupt practices. Furthermore, the company provides a reporting mechanism through a website and contact numbers, enabling anonymous or identified reporting of concerns related to bribery and corruption. Additionally, the company outlines its approach to lobbying and political engagement, ensuring activities are guided by a commitment to political neutrality and customer focus.

Provide and promote decent work
The company commits to worker health and safety through a publicly available policy and expects the same commitment from its business relationships. It performs regular technical audits on suppliers, specifically requiring high-risk suppliers to undergo bi-annual SMETA audits. Regarding wages, the company is actively reviewing its banana supply chain to ensure living wages by 2027 with the support of IDH. It is a signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) since 2019 and aims for 50% female representation in senior management by 2025. Additionally, the company reports a 50% female representation on its board.

Respect human rights
The company has institutionalised respect for human rights as approved by its highest governance body, covering ILO core conventions. Its due diligence process is informed by comprehensive internal updates and external sources like the World Bank and Maplecroft Risk Indices, ensuring awareness of human rights risks by geography and industry. Regular audits, including independent third-party assessments, are integral for their suppliers, especially in high-risk sectors like clothing and home goods. Additionally, the company supports a grievance mechanism and delivers online training modules to educate employees about human rights, demonstrating a proactive approach in fostering an ethical supply chain and workplace.

Lobbying
The company does not report on its lobbying and advocacy practices on nature-related issues, nor whether these activities align with its sustainability strategy.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
The company does not disclose its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability topics and impacts. While the company has set some targets, it does not disclose group-wide, time-bound targets on all key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain. 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.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company provides a commitment to achieve zero conversion for its soy, palm oil, and animal feed supply chain. However, no evidence found that the company commits to achieving zero conversion throughout its supply chains for all its relevant high-risk commodities, such as cocoa and coffee. While the company discloses time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains for soy and palm oil, it does not disclose the same for all relevant high-risk commodities. No evidence found that the company discloses details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or upstream business relationships.

GHG emissions
The company has an opportunity to reduce its scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions and report progress against its scope 3 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 does not disclose key species or areas important for biodiversity affected by its operations or suppliers. It has an opportunity to increase its transparency.

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 commit to avoid developing or marketing new chemicals or products with SVHC (substance of very high concern) properties. The company is not reducing the production of hazardous waste. The company does not report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal. It also does not report metrics on air pollutants, nor set time-bound targets to reduce them.

Water
The company does not disclose relevant information related to water, in its operations or supply chains.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company does not disclose a commitment to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights. The company does not disclose 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. 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 VGGT’s or the IFC Performance Standards.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
No evidence found that the company tracks its actual or potential negative impacts on the health of local communities, or that it has a commitment to respect the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

Act ethically
The company undertakes annual bribery risk assessments but does not sufficiently describe the identification process for bribery risks within its own operations. It also lacks a public policy that explicitly states its stance against making political contributions. Additionally, there is no disclosure of lobbying expenditures or a policy requiring third-party lobbyists to adhere to its standards. The company has an opportunity to enhance transparency in its anti-bribery processes and develop clear guidelines and disclosures concerning its political engagements.

Provide and promote decent work
The company does not disclose specific health and safety data, though it asserts compliance with living wage standards in London. It lacks a clear methodology for defining living wages globally and does not have a time-bound target for achieving living wage standards universally. The company reports a gender pay gap but does not provide detailed comparative salary data by gender across different employee categories. The company has an opportunity to disclose comprehensive health and safety metrics, establish clear living wage criteria and targets, and enhance gender pay transparency to support its commitments to gender equality.

Respect human rights
The company has an opportunity to provide clear evidence of how it integrates its human rights assessments into operational strategies to ensure real-world impact, particularly in high-risk areas. Furthermore, despite having grievance mechanisms, the company could benefit from enhancing transparency around the outcomes of these mechanisms and the effectiveness of remedial actions taken.