Why is this important?

If a company considers sustainability aspects in all of its key decisions, even very ambitious sustainability strategy goals can be achieved and sustainable behaviour can become a matter of course within the company. This requires corporate processes to be reviewed and management processes to be modified, and this tends to have an impact on all areas of a company.

To avoid having to consider anew how the topic of sustainability might be considered for each individual decision, it can be governed by rules and processes. New rules and processes can be introduced and old ones can be expanded (e.g. introducing environmental and social criteria to purchasing guidelines).

What do the terms mean?

Rules and processes translate the sustainability strategy into more precise specifications for the company’s day-to-day activities. Rules include purchasing guidelines, guidelines for research and development, and codes of conduct for the employees. These are incorporated into a company’s day-to-day activities by means of appropriate processes, e.g. regular workshops, subject-specific working groups, new production processes and methods, and internal communication measures.

What needs to be borne in mind?

This criterion is about stating how sustainability issues are enshrined within the company in order for them to be implemented in the daily business activities. There can be a very diverse array of rules and processes and they can vary greatly from company to company and from sector to sector. Please report both on the current implementation status and on your plans for the future.

A1

State how the sustainability strategy is enshrined in the daily business activities (internal rules, processes and standards).