Viterra

Lobbying
Viterra discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member wherever it operates.

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities and states the channels it uses to engage with its stakeholder groups. Furthermore, its stakeholder engagement covers nature, nutrition, and social issues.

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 and reports consistently against all its targets.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company has a commitment to ensure zero conversion, and time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains, namely its targets to end deforestation and conversion for soy from South America and palm oil globally by the end of 2025.

GHG emissions
The company has a time-bound target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Water
The company demonstrates reducing water withdrawal in its own operations, and reports how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
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
The company places a strong emphasis on data protection and transparency, with a public commitment and a disclosed privacy statement regarding personal data usage. Furthermore, the company operates with integrity, showcasing a global tax strategy and maintaining a robust anti-bribery and anti-corruption policy. It extends this commitment by including anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in contracts with direct business relationships. The company ensures accessibility for stakeholders to report concerns related to bribery and corruption through a user-friendly website and email channel, offering anonymity if desired. Moreover, it upholds a transparent approach to political engagement by explicitly stating its non-participation in political contributions.

Provide and promote decent work
The company publicly pledges to prioritize worker health and safety in its policy statement. It extends this commitment to its business relationships, emphasizing the importance of worker well-being across its network. Notably, 76% of its total direct operations workforce benefits from collective bargaining agreements, underscoring a commitment to fair labor practices. Additionally, the company maintains transparency by disclosing the proportion of women in its direct operations workforce across various employee categories, promoting gender equality.

Respect human rights
The company has a publicly available policy statement in which it commits to respecting human rights. Additionally, the company’s policy statement also ensures the commitment to respect ILO core labour rights. Furthermore, the company expects its suppliers to respect the ILO core labour rights, as stated in their publicly available policy statement.

To facilitate reporting grievances, the company discloses a website and an email address. When visiting their website, it is evident that they have an open channel for anyone to make a report. Moreover, the company provides the option for the complainant to either remain anonymous or identify themselves when submitting a report.

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.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
The company 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. Furthermore, while the company discloses a remuneration policy related to climate, it could link this policy to improvement in 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 activities to achieve conversion-free supply chains. Furthermore, the company is not committed to restoring ecosystems and does not disclose details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers.

GHG emissions
The company should set time-bound targets to reduce its scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions as well as report progress against all of its scope 1, 2 and 3 targets. Crucially, the company needs to reduce its scope 1,2 and 3 emissions and its targets need to align with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Impact and dependencies assessment
The company has an opportunity to disclose assessments of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, within its own operations and in its supply chain. It also has the opportunity to disclose its dependencies on nature within 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
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 provide quantitative evidence regarding plastic use reduction and use of sustainable packaging, including the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal.

Water
The company has an opportunity to further improve water withdrawal by engaging with suppliers and setting time-bound targets to reduce 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 mentions Indigenous Peoples’ rights but does not show a commitment to respecting these rights. There are no references provided to the relevant part(s) of ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples or the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Additionally, the company fails to disclose its processes for identifying and recognizing the rights of Indigenous Peoples when its operations may impact these rights. The company also does not describe how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior, and informed consent.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The company upholds human rights and supports the long-term development of the local communities in which it operates. However, the company has an opportunity to commit to respecting local communities’ right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. There is also an opportunity for company to disclose a commitment 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 the opportunity to establish a clear policy outlining its approach to lobbying and political engagement. As part of this, the company could consider disclosing its expenditures related to lobbying activities. Additionally, the company could require third-party lobbyists to adhere to the company’s established lobbying and political engagement policy.

Provide and promote decent work
The company can enhance transparency by revealing its supplier health and safety monitoring process. While it currently pays minimum wages, committing to a time-bound target for a living wage would demonstrate dedication to fair compensation. Providing insight into how it defines a living wage across regions and requiring the same of its suppliers, while revealing support mechanisms, would promote equitable pay.

Furthermore, a public commitment to gender equality with specific time-bound goals would foster empowerment. The company could also acknowledge the need for greater female representation on the board and share efforts to achieve at least 30% women. Lastly, disclosing salary ratios for gender equity in various employee categories and significant locations would provide a comprehensive view of its gender pay practices.

Respect human rights
The company has an opportunity to describe its process for identifying and assessing human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities. This should cover both its own operations and its supply chain. Additionally, the company could provide details on how it determines which human rights issues are most significant (salient) to its operations. Furthermore, disclosing the results of its human rights risk assessment would be beneficial. Finally, the company could also share information about a global system in place to address, prevent, or mitigate these salient human rights issues.