McCormick

Lobbying
McCormick discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member.

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. Also, it has group-wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company is committed to achieving conversion-free supply chains. It not only discloses certain activities required to achieve this goal but also sets specific time-bound targets. The company provides information and updates on any ecosystem restoration projects that are conducted in areas impacted by its operations or its suppliers. Additionally, the company discloses its ecosystem restoration initiatives beyond these areas.

GHG emissions
The company discloses that it has met its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emission targets four years ahead of schedule. Additionally, it states that by 2030, it has set its new targets to reduce scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 42% and it reports progress against these scope 1 and 2 targets. Furthermore, the company’s scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions targets are aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
The company shares information about its efforts to enhance soil health and promote agrobiodiversity through its production and sourcing practices. They have provided qualitative evidence on regenerative agricultural practices, soil testing, and the implementation of comprehensive development programs in partnership with external stakeholders.

Solid and air pollution
The company reports regularly on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants. The company demonstrates commitments, partakes in activities, and discloses quantitative data related to plastic use reduction and transitioning towards sustainable packaging, including the proportion of recycled content in plastic packaging.

Water
The company reports how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas, and engages with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company requires its business relationships to identify and recognise affected Indigenous Peoples and to obtain their free, prior and informed consent regarding whether and how to carry out projects.

Act ethically
The company has a publicly disclosed global tax strategy overseen by its Board of Directors. It also maintains a policy against bribery and corruption, incorporates anti-corruption clauses in contracts with direct business relationships, and provides a grievance mechanism for stakeholders to raise concerns and complaints regarding bribery and corruption.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has a public policy committing to the health and safety of its workers and expects its business relationships to do the same. It also discloses the methods used to monitor the health and safety practices of its business partners. The company reports that a specific proportion of its direct workforce is covered by collective bargaining agreements. It sets a goal to achieve 50% female leadership by 2025 and states that 36.36% of its board members are women.

Respect human rights
The company publicly commits to requiring its suppliers to adhere to ILO core labor rights. It offers a grievance mechanism for all employees to report human rights issues and extends this mechanism to external stakeholders potentially affected by its operations.

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 does not disclose how it engages with stakeholders, nor the issues it raises during such activities.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
While the company discloses some sustainability objectives/targets including climate and ecosystem conversion, it has an opportunity to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain. Furthermore, it could link performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover nature, including biodiversity, 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
The company does not disclose its activities to minimize ecosystem conversion, nor does it disclose a commitment to do so. Additionally, the company is not committed to restoring ecosystems.

GHG emissions
The company should report progress against these scope 3 targets and to reduce its scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions.

Impact and dependencies assessment
While the company has engaged in partnerships, it still has an opportunity to assess its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, within its own operations and disclose the methodology and results of these assessments. The company also mentions assessing impacts on biodiversity throughout its value chain but could benefit from disclosing the methodology and results of this process. Furthermore, the company has yet to disclose assessments regarding its dependencies on nature within its own operations and dependencies on nature in its 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 sets expectations for its agricultural suppliers to respect high conservation and protected areas, such as those listed by the Ramsar Convention and IUCN Categories I-IV, it has an opportunity to extend its disclosure. Specifically, the company could disclose the locations of its suppliers that are important for biodiversity and provide information on species populations adjacent to both its own and its suppliers’ locations, aligned with 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 further improve water withdrawal by setting a time-bound target and showing year-on-year reductions in water withdrawal. The company does not disclose relevant information on water pollution or rights to water in its operations or supply chains.

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 a bribery and corruption identification process but could enhance transparency by disclosing more details. While its Political Activity Policy outlines the approach to lobbying and political engagement, further specifics could be provided. The company states it makes political contributions after internal approvals from Company’s Management Committee and the Government Affairs Council, but could clarify if these are exceptional cases and outline the criteria for making them. Although some lobbying expenditures are disclosed, the company could either disclose expenditures across all lobbying activities or specify the countries or regions where these activities occur. Additionally, the company has an opportunity to state that it requires third-party lobbyists to comply with its lobbying and political engagement policy.

Provide and promote decent work
While the company pays its employees the minimum wage, there’s an opportunity to commit to a living wage through a time-bound target. The company could also disclose its methodology for determining a living wage in various operating regions. Although it sets wage expectations for suppliers, the company could require them to pay a living wage and detail how it supports this initiative. While the company has expressed commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment, it could formalize this stance in a public policy document. The company does disclose its UK gender pay gap and an improved index score for France, but it hasn’t provided data on the gender pay ratio across different employee categories and significant locations of operation.

Respect human rights
The company has a public policy statement on human rights, but could make it a formal commitment with stronger language. Although it commits to specific workers’ rights, there’s an opportunity to include all ILO fundamental rights. While the company has identified some human rights risks in its operations, it could disclose the process used for this identification. It generally states that it conducts due diligence, but could specify that this includes a human rights component and covers its supply chain. The company has the opportunity to describe how it assesses what it considers to be its key human rights issues and could also disclose the results of its human rights risk assessment.