Sustainable development
Sustainable development priorities
Our sustainable development (SD) journey started several decades ago and has become more explicit over the course of the last 10 years; today, it is an integral part of our business strategy. Our focus now is to promote and strengthen the SD culture so that it continues to add value to everything we do.
Focusing on SD priorities
While we have made some significant achievements, we recognize that the journey is far from over. Continuity and focus are important.
Our environmental and CSR priorities are:
Occupational health and safety
The importance of these issues has also been confirmed with global and local stakeholders, who consider them to be key areas of our SD strategy.
Mapping material issues
Holcim has a well-embedded business risk management process for identifying risks at both corporate and Group company level.
Since 2007, a materiality review has been implemented at Group level to ensure the identification of SD risks and opportunities as well as the integration of stakeholder views. Since this process was introduced, materiality reviews have been conducted by many Group companies. Results reveal that the full list of material issues is consistent with the Group-level review, but there are differing weightings according to local circumstances.
The results of the latest Group-level materiality review, incorporating the results of the Group companies' reviews as well as the views of the External Report Review Panel at a consultation in September 2009, are shown in the graphic below. In conjunction with our business risk management system, the consultation confirmed that the issues identified on the matrix remain the most material for Holcim. The fundamental difference from the previous review was that almost all external stakeholders felt that water management and human rights should be reflected separately. The difference between the company and stakeholder view on water is likely to narrow as the new water management scheme is implemented.
The biographies of the External Report Review panel can be found below:
SD materiality review - aligning global stakeholder feedback with current Group priorities
Highlight
SD materiality review confirms that our SD priorities match SD material issues of concern to stakeholders.
 | "Holcim demonstrates a credible approach to sustainability. However, I would like to see the Grouptake a clearer leadership in reducing absolute fossil CO2 emissions. This is a key challenge for the entire cement industry. Efforts to increase the use of biofuels also need to be intensified over time." Patrik Bosander, Business Development Director, Billerud AB. |
