Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
This section covers our disclosures following the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
Governance
The Board of Directors, acting collectively, has the ultimate responsibility for the conduct of business of the Company and for delivering sustainable value for shareholders and other stakeholders. The Board sets the Company’s strategic aims, ensures that the necessary financial and human resources are in place to meet the Company’s objectives, and supervises and controls the management of the Company. We assess and manage climate-related issues through our Way Beyond Good Climate+ action area. For more information on The Way Beyond Good, please see The Way Beyond Good. The Way Beyond Good ambitions to create a net positive impact on people and the planet are built into our business strategy, our Corporate Compass. Ultimate accountability for our performance and progress on he Way Beyond Good commitments lies with our CEO and Group Executive Board (GEB) – and this is built into their remuneration via our Short-Term Incentive Plan. Every GEB meeting includes standing items on responsibility topics, including climate-related issues. GEB members sit in our Responsibility Steering Group (RSG) together with senior representatives of key functions and each region. The GEB also engages directly with our independent Responsibility Advisory Group (RAG) to gain valuable external input. Together with the CEO and the GEB, the RSG governs any climate-related issues at an operational level. The RSG meets at least twice a year to oversee SIG’s responsibility roadmap and strategy, review progress and ensure alignment across the business. Climate-related issues, including climate-related risks, are substantial elements of the agendas for RSG meetings. In 2022, for instance, these meetings addressed the implications of the recently established guidance for science-based targets and necessary programme adaptations to our accounting, reporting and assessment approaches. Relevant sustainability updates, including those related to progress on our science-based targets, are regularly reported to the Board of Directors. For more information on our governance of climate-related issues, please refer to the Responsibility built in section of the Way Beyond Good chapter. For more information on SIG Group AG’s corporate governance, please see our Corporate Governance Report.
Strategy
We regularly assess potential climate-related impacts on our business and strategy, and climate change was again identified as a material topic for SIG in our latest materiality assessment in 2022. This year we deepened our assessment of climate-related impacts and further expanded the consideration of different climate scenario assumptions. Following the TCFD’s1 categorisation, the assessment covers impacts related to the transition to a lower-carbon economy – which can pose policy-, legal-, technology- and market-related transition risks – and physical risks related to the acute and chronic physical impacts of a changing climate. It assesses potential impacts occurring over the short (1–3 years), medium (3–5 years) and long (over 5 years) term.
In 2022, we assessed impacts in light of a best-case ”Net Zero by 2050” scenario, as well as a worst-case scenario. The best-case scenario aligns with the RCP1.9 emissions pathway, projecting a global mean temperature increase of below 1.5°C by 2100. Under this scenario, we expect to see more immediate and stringent policy reactions, including increased implementation of carbon pricing mechanisms. Related changes in cost patterns and public awareness may also directly affect consumers’ purchasing behaviour and preferences for more sustainable product alternatives, which may turn into an opportunity for our packaging solutions, which have a lower carbon footprint than alternative types of packaging. The longer-term physical effects of climate change may be limited since the RCP1.9 pathway is related to an effective mitigation of climate change impacts.
The worst-case scenario aligns with the RCP8.5 pathway, projecting a global mean temperature increase of around 5°C by the end of the century. Necessary climate action would be delayed until the 2030s, with policy actions implemented to halt the rise in GHG emissions at a late stage. Emissions would steadily rise, preventing us from reaching our greenhouse gas reduction targets. Social and economic costs can be expected to be even higher, while physical effects of climate change are expected to be even more drastic, leading to constraints in the availability of natural resources and more critical disruptions in supply chains and markets.
To identify which potential climate-related impacts are material, we estimate the probability of occurrence and severity of a potential financial impact in line with our enterprise risk management (ERM). For more information on our ERM, please see Enterprise risk management. Results of the assessment in 2022 show that, overall, SIG’s business strategy is well positioned for the transition towards a more sustainable, low carbon, circular economy. The Climate+ action area includes a programme that is designed to reduce our emissions in line with climate science along the value chain. Our low carbon packaging enables us to support our customers and consumers to lower their own carbon emissions. This ability to offer a low carbon alternative to other types of packaging is a key differentiator and value driver that not only mitigates climate-related risks but enables SIG to capitalise on climate-related opportunities. Our products offer a variety of assets that are associated with climate benefits by consumers, such as renewable content or recyclability – in addition to the advantages of ambient packaging with excellent shelf-life performance, which contributes to reducing food waste.
Our assessment of climate-related issues also shows that some issues identified may have a potential financial impact on SIG’s business. Potential new and more stringent regulatory measures to limit climate change could increase SIG’s production costs, for example by increasing costs for raw materials with a climate-intensive supply chain, or by demanding higher investments in building up recycling infrastructure. Changing customer preferences and purchasing behaviours may increase the demand for products which demonstrate high climate and environmental performance. While SIG is currently well placed to meet such demands, failing to do so, or meeting them less well than our competitors, could potentially translate into a loss of sales. Additionally, chronic or acute climate change impacts on forests may result in the reduction or loss of forest resources, which may result in disruptions in the supply of liquid packaging board, one of our main raw materials, consequently limiting our ability to supply our products to customers. For more information on our climate strategy, please see our Climate+ chapter.
Risk management
Our approach to addressing climate-related risks and opportunities is integrated in our annual ERM. In 2022, material climate-related impacts were discussed in the risk management workshops with regional and functional leadership teams that were held to identify and evaluate risks. In addition, a separate risk workshop was held with the Group Executive Board to discuss and validate the overall risk portfolio. Monitoring and control of risks are supported by our internal control system for financial reporting, which defines measures that reduce potential risks. Management is responsible for implementing, tracking and reporting risk mitigation measures, including periodic reporting to the Audit and Risk Committee and the Board of Directors. Each identified material risk has a risk owner at management level who is responsible for the implementation of risk management measures in their area of responsibility. Each material risk also has a mitigation action owner, mostly in global functions with regional counterparts to ensure local implementation. For more information on our ERM, please see Enterprise risk management.
Moreover, each of the Way Beyond Good action areas and enablers is owned by a member of the RSG, who is accountable for setting stretching goals and delivering progress through targeted workstreams. Responsibility leaders from relevant functions and regions are responsible for implementing the Way Beyond Good targets, with support from relevant experts across the business. Our assessment concludes that SIG is well positioned to respond to and manage the climate-related risks identified. We have already implemented a range of mitigation and adaptation measures to address our most significant potential climate-related risks. Examples from 2022 include: maintaining 100% renewable electricity for production of our aseptic carton packs; innovations to further reduce the carbon footprint of our packaging solutions; engagement with suppliers to further reduce the climate impact of key raw materials, for example through certification to the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative standard, which includes strict limits on greenhouse gas emissions; and partnerships to foster collection and recycling of used beverage cartons in priority markets. For more information on our climate-related mitigation and adaptation measures, including our Pathway to Net Zero, please refer to our Climate+ chapter.
Climate is a key priority in our strategy, and we consequently evaluated whether our acquisitions may impact our risk assessment. We were able to conclude that this does not lead to major changes in our risk portfolio.
Metrics and targets
Our Way Beyond Good journey demands that we become a Climate+ business. This means that, in addition to reducing our emissions in line with climate science, we will remove more carbon from our value chain than we emit. Alongside this, we will continue to help our customers and consumers to lower their own carbon footprints further with our low-impact packaging. We are already among the group of leading companies that have set science-based targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in line with the latest climate science to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
In 2022, we have further increased our ambition level with new science-based targets submitted to SBTi for approval, including a formal commitment to reach Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions across our value chain by 2050. The new targets commit us to:
- Near-term: Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 42%, and reduce Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 52% per litre packed by 2030 (from a 2020 baseline).
- Long-term: Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 90% and reduce Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 97% per litre packed by 2050 (from a 2020 baseline).
For more information on our climate-related metrics and targets, as well as on our greenhouse gas reporting, which includes the newly acquired business, please refer to our Climate+ chapter, our “Greenhouse gas emissions basis for reporting” on pages 380–386 in the Annual Report 2022 PDF, our “Key performance indicators”, as well as our “GRI content index” on pages 387–410 in the Annual Report 2022 PDF.
1 https://assets.bbhub.io/company/sites/60/2020/10/FINAL-2017-TCFD-Report-11052018.pdf.