Tesco

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses how it engages with stakeholders, the issues raised during such activities, and the specific outcomes of its stakeholder engagement. Moreover, its stakeholder engagement activities cover nature, nutrition, and social areas.

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. Furthermore, it provides evidence of linking 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 discloses that 83% of its palm oil is physically certified to RSPO Segregated standards.

GHG emissions
The company 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 reduces its scope 1,2 and 3 emissions and its targets are aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Resource exploitation and circularity performance
The company discloses that it is working with it works with suppliers to protect and regenerate soil structure and reduce erosion with soil-friendly on-farm practices, such as cover cropping and herbal leys, a soil-enriching grass mix used as feed for dairy cows. Moreover, the company discloses that it rolls out of LEAF Marque certification which works toward soil health.

Solid and air pollution
The company has a 4Rs strategy and partakes in activities related to plastic use reduction and transitioning towards sustainable packaging. It also discloses related quantitative data.

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

Act ethically
The company discloses a public commitment to protect personal data, and has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption as well as a global tax strategy. It also discloses that its tax approach is reviewed on an annual basis by the Board and its adherence to them is monitored by the Chief Financial Officer and the Group Tax Director.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has a publicly available policy statement in which it commits to respecting the health and safety of workers in its own operations and supply chain. Also, it describes how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers.
Moreover, it does not require workers to work more than the regular and overtime hours and places equivalent expectations on its suppliers. Further, it discloses the proportion of its workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements and its approach to supporting the practices of its business relationships in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Furthermore, the company discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by gender and race or ethnicity. It publicly commits to gender equality and women’s empowerment and discloses a target to improve female representation at the executive level. Also, it discloses that 38.46% of its Board members are women.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights and ILO core labour rights in its operations and supply chain. It describes the process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations and supply chain, as well as assessing and identifying what it considers to be its salient human rights issues. Additionally, it has a global system to take action to prevent, mitigate or remediate salient human rights issues, including a description of how it applies to its supply chain.
Moreover, the company discloses categories of stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities, and demonstrates how it engages with them. It also 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
The company discloses some sustainability objectives/targets including social inclusion, ecosystem conversion and climate. However, there is an opportunity to establish group-wide targets for the most material parts of its value chain. Also, while the company reports consistently against some targets including climate, food waste, animal welfare and social inclusion, it has an opportunity to report consistently against all its targets. Furthermore, although the company states that the board of directors has expertise in sustainability, it could disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise with respect to the company’s most material sustainability topics.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
No evidence was found regarding the company’s efforts to avoid ecosystem conversion, including deforestation, or promote restoration. The company has an opportunity to develop a strategy and publicly report on specific, time-bound targets.

Impact and dependencies assessment
The company, while recognizing its environmental impact and prioritizing five key natural areas, has an opportunity to assess its impact on biodiversity within its own operations. Despite engaging with SBTN and TNFD and investing in on-farm biodiversity technologies, the company should disclose its process and outcomes for assessing impacts on nature in its supply chain. Additionally, there is an opportunity to assess dependencies on nature within its own operations and 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
The company has an opportunity to disclose locations within or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity, both in its own operations and its supplier locations. It could also disclose existing species populations existing in or adjacent to both its own and its suppliers’ locations, as well as the conservation status of species identified at its own sites according to national and international 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 should commit to avoid 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. The company could also report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal.

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 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 an opportunity to include anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in contracts with business relationships, describe its process for identifying bribery and corruption, and indicate the existence of a grievance mechanism through which stakeholders can file related complaints. Although the company outlines its approach to political engagement in its Code of Business Conduct and Guidance for Political Engagement, it has an opportunity to formalise its approach to lobbying too in a public policy document.
Furthermore, it could also disclose that it requires third-party lobbyists to comply with its lobbying and political engagement policy as well as its lobbying expenditures.

Provide and promote decent work
The company has an opportunity to disclose how it monitors the health and safety performance of its suppliers. It could also disclose a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or disclose that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage, and describe how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates.