Roche

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. The company reports consistently against all its set targets.

Resource exploitation and circularity
Roche discloses which organisms it directly exploits for commercial uses, including wild animal and plant species.

Solid and air pollution
Roche commits not to develop or market new chemicals or products with SVHC (substance of very high concern) properties. The company reports some activities to reduce plastic use and waste in its own operations. The company has targets regarding reduction of virgin polymer production or overall plastic use and waste, or an increase in the proportion of reusable or refillable packaging, and reports progress against the targets.

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

Sustainability strategy and accountability
The company does not disclose group-wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain.  The company has reported that the bonus of managers and employees is dependent on their goals regarding the total environmental impact, which is mainly (about 75%) driven by climate change aspects. However, no more information on what these goals are specifically could be found. Further, no evidence that the company links performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover social issues could be found.  The company does not disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise regarding nature-related topics.

Stakeholder engagement
The company does not disclose an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities. The company has reported that they provide information on sustainability topics to their stakeholders using different information channels (websites, publications, social media) and seek feedback in formal meetings, events, forums, consultations, and surveys. They have further reported that they held a OneRoche Patient Think Tank in August, 2021 and a month later, held working sessions with patient leaders, suppliers, health partners, employee representatives and environmental organisations to get feedback on their sustainability strategy. However, these disclosures are not sufficient to translate into evidence that the company discloses its process for engaging with stakeholder groups (frequency and channels) beyond its materiality assessment (or similar).

Lobbying
While the company discloses some trade associations of which it is a member, this is not a complete list covering all geographies. 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 
The company has reported that The Roche Eco-balance measures the environmental impacts of their business activities. They further report that Eco-balance comprises a number of individual impacts including air and water emissions, landfill waste and waste incineration, primary energy, raw material and water usage. However, no evidence that it assesses its impacts on biodiversity could be found. The company does not disclose any assessment of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, in its supply chain. The company does not disclose any assessment of its dependencies on nature within its own operations. The company does not disclose any assessment of dependencies on nature of its upstream business relationships.

Key areas and species
The company does not disclose the locations that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity within its own operations. The company does not 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. 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
The company does not disclose a commitment to ensure zero conversion. The company does not disclose activities to achieve conversion-free supply chains. The company does not disclose time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains. The company does not disclose a commitment to minimise ecosystem conversion. The company does not disclose activities to minimise ecosystem conversion. The company does not disclose a commitment to restore ecosystems. The company does not disclose details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers.

Resource exploitation and circularity
The company does not disclose its inputs, including its material footprint. The company does not report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. The company discloses activities to improve soil health or agrobiodiversity in its production or sourcing practices. The company does not disclose a target to improve soil health in its production or sourcing practices.

Water
The company has reported an increase in the water withdrawal (million m3) in its own operations from 14.9 in 2020 to 15.4 in 2021. The company has reported its target to reduce water consumption [water risk weighted consumption per employee] and reports progress against it. However, since the target is linked to employees, it cannot be counted as a valid target. 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. The company reports a decrease in water pollution. The company discloses its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality. The company regularly reports on water pollution. 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
While the company discloses “We also seek to reduce the use of hazardous substances and materials, and actively collaborate with other companies and organizations to develop and promote techniques for Green Chemistry and Green BioPharma manufacturing.”, it has not given examples of evidence of reducing production of hazardous substances.  The company has reported an increase in the production of hazardous waste (tonnes) from 13,332 in 2020 to 15,110 in 2021. The company has reported that the increase in hazardous waste is due to the reallocation of electronic waste to 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 reports regularly 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
The company reports data on energy (scope 1 and scope 2) consumption (GJ/employee), CO2 intensity (amount of CO2t, (Scope 1 & 2)/employee) and carbon dioxide emissions from business flights. However, reporting on these parameters does not translate into evidence that the company discloses quantitative reductions for segments of its scope 1 or scope 2 emissions.  The company has reported that sites covering 85% of the Roche Group scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions should develop a roadmap towards zero scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions by 2050. The company has reported that the sites have developed a roadmap in 2021. However, no target has been set in 2022. The company does not report progress against its scope 1 and 2 emissions target. No evidence that the company’s scope 1 and 2 emissions target is aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory was found. The company is reducing its scope 3 emissions. The company has reported its target of reducing scope 3 GHG emissions [t CO2/employee]. However, since this is tied to employees, it does not translate into evidence that the company has a time-bound target to reduce scope 3 emissions. The company does not report progress against its scope 3 emissions target. No evidence that the company’s scope 3 emissions target is aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory was found.

Invasive species
No evidence was found that the company identifies the activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive species in its own operations. No evidence was found that the company identifies the activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive species in its value chain.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The company in its Group Policy on Safety, Security, Health and Environmental Protection (SHE) has states the following: “Roche understands its obligation to society and the environment. We promote and provide safe, secure and healthy workplaces, a clean environment and sustainable products.” However, understanding of the obligation does not translate into any commitment. Further, what is the meaning and context of “clean environment” cannot be ascertained.  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
The company does not disclose 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. 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 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.  No evidence was found that the company has a global system in place to act on, prevent or mitigate its salient human rights issues.  The company provides a case study describing how it has acted on a salient human rights risk issue. 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. The company discloses that it engages with peers and suppliers to make a positive impact on Human Rights and increase supplier standards. Also, it engages with business partners during the process of due diligence in order to create transparency, however, it does not provide examples of its engagement with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities (or their legitimate representatives or multi-stakeholder initiatives) in the last two years.

The company has a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers.  The company has a publicly available policy statement which shows it expects its suppliers to commit to respecting the health and safety of their workers. No evidence that the company discloses a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage was found. No evidence that the company describes how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates was found. While the company states that it expects its suppliers to pay wages that are sufficient for workers and their families to fulfil their basic needs, it has an opportunity to disclose how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers. The company discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements. While the company states that its suppliers shall respect employees’ right to freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, however, it has an opportunity to describe how it works to support the practices of its suppliers in relation to those.

The company discloses a global tax strategy. 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. The company states that its suppliers shall not pay or accept bribes or participate in other illegal inducements in business or government relationships, however, no evidence that it includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with business relationships could be found. No evidence that the company has a publicly available policy statement or policy setting out its lobbying and political engagement approach was found. No evidence that the company has a publicly available policy statement that specifies that it does not make political contributions was found.