Sime Darby Plantation

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses an overview of the issues raised during its regular and ongoing stakeholder engagement activities as well as engagement channels and frequency, for each stakeholder group.

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.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
Sime Darby Plantation discloses some activities to achieve conversion-free supply chains, including the proportion of high-risk commodities which are conversion-free. The company has a commitment to minimise ecosystem conversion, and to restore ecosystems.

GHG emissions
Sime Darby Plantation has set time-bound targets to reduce its scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions as well as report progress against them. Additionally, the company reduced its scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions compared to the previous year.

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

Water
Sime Darby Plantation discloses its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality, and it reports a decrease in water pollution. Furthermore, the company demonstrates reducing water withdrawal in its own operations.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
Sime Darby Plantation is committed to respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Also, the company discloses 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.

Act ethically
Sime Darby Plantation discloses a public commitment to protect personal data. Furthermore, it has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption and incorporates anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses into its contracts with direct business relationships. Additionally, it offers a grievance mechanism for stakeholders to raise concerns and complaints regarding bribery and corruption. Moreover, the company specifies that it does not make political contributions.

Provide and promote decent work
Sime Darby Plantation has a publicly available policy statement that expects its business relationships to commit to respecting the health and safety of its workers. Additionally, the company pays a living wage in alignment with RSPO guidance on living wage provisions. Furthermore, it publicly states that all overtime work must be consensual and paid at a premium rate. Moreover, the company discloses the proportion of its workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements. It also reports a 30% female representation on the board.

Respect human rights
Sime Darby Plantation has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights and the ILO’s fundamental rights at work in its operations and supply chain. Additionally, the company outlines its process for identifying human rights risks and impacts within its operations and supply chain. It also elaborates on its methods for assessing these risks, discloses its salient human rights issues, and provides a case study illustrating how it has addressed a salient human rights risk. Moreover, the company indicates that it has a human rights grievance mechanism accessible to all workers.

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
Sime Darby Plantation discloses some sustainability objectives/targets including climate and ecosystem conversion. However, there is an opportunity to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain. Also, while the company reports qualitative progress against all its targets, it has an opportunity to disclose quantitative information regarding its current status. 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
Sime Darby Plantation does not have a commitment to ensure zero conversion, nor does it have time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains. Additionally, it does not disclose activities to minimise ecosystem conversion. Finally, the company does not disclose details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers.

GHG emissions
Crucially, all its scope 1, 2 and 3 targets need to align with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Impact and dependencies assessment
While Sime Darby Plantation conducts site-specific monitoring and management plans that include biodiversity assessments as per the CBA approach, it still has the opportunity to assess its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, within its own operations. The company also has the opportunity to assess its impacts on nature in its supply chain, as well as to evaluate its dependencies on nature within both its own operations and 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 emphasizes its commitment to the conservation of ERT species, there remains an opportunity to specify species present near its operations. Further clarity can be provided by detailing operational and supplier locations adjacent to biodiversity-rich areas. Sharing information about species populations around supplier sites and presenting conservation statuses of identified species based on global and national guidelines would further bolster their biodiversity conservation stance.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
No evidence was found regarding Sime Darby Plantation’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
Sime Darby Plantation should commit to avoiding developing or marketing new chemicals or products with SVHC (substance of very high concern) properties, as well as work on reducing the production of hazardous substances and waste. It has an opportunity to report on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants and disclose time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain. While the company describes its activities to reduce plastic use and transition towards sustainable packaging, it has an opportunity to disclose the associated quantitative data., including the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal.

Water
While Sime Darby Plantation has a water intensity target, it has an opportunity to set time-bound targets that result in water withdrawal in absolute terms. The company does not disclose relevant information on water pollution. Furthermore, 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.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company does not disclose its processes to identify and recognize the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights or describe how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent.

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
Sime Darby Plantation conducts risk assessments focusing on areas, including corruption. However, there is an opportunity to elaborate on the process for identifying bribery and corruption risks and their impacts within its operations. Additionally, while the company outlines its approach to personal political activities, there is an opportunity to articulate its approach to lobbying and political engagement in a public policy statement. The company could also consider disclosing its expenditures on lobbying activities.

Provide and promote decent work
While Sime Darby Plantation has a public policy statement on health and safety, it has an opportunity to use stronger language to demonstrate its commitment to health and safety. Additionally, despite the company stating that it has the right to audit vendors and verify compliance, the company could mention that it actively monitors the health and safety performance of its suppliers and discloses the methods used for doing so.

Furthermore, the company could disclose how it determines living wages in its operational regions. While the company has set expectations for the wages paid by its suppliers, it could add a requirement for them to pay a living wage and disclose how it supports such payments.

Moreover, while the company promotes gender equality and has implemented initiatives toward this goal, it could explicitly commit to gender equality and women’s empowerment in a public policy document. It could further disclose time-bound targets and report information, including gender pay ratios.

Respect human rights
While the company discloses efforts to prevent, mitigate, or remediate its salient human rights issues, it could also describe a global system and how it applies to its supply chain.