Sustainability governance framework
Board of Directors
As the Board of Directors is the highest executive oversight body, it has the ultimate authority on matters relating to Sustainability, including climate. Furthermore, the Board of Directors has established a Sustainability Committee that is responsible for reviewing sustainability and the sustainability performance of the company. See the Board of Directors and Sustainability Committee for more information on their responsibilities and activities.
Executive Committee
By way of delegation of the Board for Directors, the Executive Committee, led by our CEO, is responsible for the management of the company, including pursuing leadership on sustainability, and implementing the sustainability strategy. Among other items, the Executive Committee approved, with the Board of Director’s endorsement, the science-based targets that were submitted for validation in early 2024 to the Science Based Targets initiative. See the Executive Committee for more information on the composition and roles of the Executive Committee.
Functional Leadership of Sustainability
Functional Leadership Teams (LT) have been established to manage specific sustainability-related topics. These teams are chaired by a senior executive.
Sustainability at Group level
At Group level, sustainability is steered by the Global Sustainability Leadership Team (GSLT). The GSLT is comprised of a group of senior sustainability leaders representing Group Sustainability, the Business Units, and relevant functions. The GSLT is chaired by the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) who has a direct reporting line to the CEO. The GSLT drives the sustainability agenda of the company and ensures that this is translated into the Business Units’ and functions’ sustainability strategies. Key topics on the GSLT agenda include climate, nature, social impact (including human rights), nutrition and sustainability reporting.
The GSLT is supported in their work by the Group Sustainability function, under the leadership of the CSO, a group of experts that identify emerging sustainability trends, provide topical expertise, and support the company on cross-cutting sustainability themes. Furthermore, Business Unit sustainability teams ensure the identification and management of Business-Unit-specific topics, priorities and strategies.
Operations, and Safety, Health and Environment & Security
The Operations Leadership Team drives excellence and competitive advantage in operations. It defines our Operations strategy and ensures a consistent application of our operational standards, through providing joint direction, community building, and identifying and jointly executing synergies and value creation. The SHE & Security (SHE&S) Leadership Team ensure our SHE&S are fit for purpose to safeguard people’s and customer’s safety and health, and to protect the environment and out assets. It sets the relevant strategy, policy, requirements, and standards to deliver on these. These Leadership Teams are supported by Functional Leadership Teams and Functional Networks that connect the overarching strategies and standards with the functional and Business Unit planning and execution.
Human Resources
The Human Resources Leadership Team (HRLT) is responsible for the holistic human resources (HR) agenda. It is chaired by the Chief Human Resources Officer, who is a member of the Executive Committee. The HRLT, comprised of the Heads of the Group HR expertise areas and Business Unit HR Heads, sets the strategic direction for HR and ensures alignment between the Group and the Business Unit HR agendas. It is supported by the extended LT which discusses cross-cutting HR projects, and provides inspiration and expertise on HR topics, including improvement opportunities and best practices.
Procurement
The Procurement Leadership Team (PLT) is responsible for ensuring the implementation of our Responsible Sourcing Framework, and reviews progress on a regular basis. Our Chief Procurement Officer (CPO), who chairs the PLT, reports directly to the CEO, and is responsible for deploying the Framework within our supply chain. The Framework and strategy, together with guidance and priority setting, is defined by the Responsible Sourcing team, which is overseen by the Head of Responsible Sourcing, who maintains a dual reporting line to the CPO as well as the CSO. The Sustainability Leadership Team (SLT) acts as a sparring partner to ensure our Responsible Sourcing strategy is in line with the Group’s ambitions and commitments.