Industry Comparison

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Current language: English (2023)

You are viewing information about the following Industries:

  • E-Commerce E-Commerce industry entities provide an online marketplace for other entities or individuals to sell their goods and services, as well as retailers and wholesalers that provide an exclusively web-based platform for consumers to buy goods and services. Entities in this industry sell to consumers as well as to other businesses. Because of the accessibility of e-commerce sites, the industry is a global marketplace for buyers and sellers.
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  • Agricultural Products The Agricultural Products industry is engaged in processing, trading and distributing vegetables and fruits, and producing and milling agricultural commodities such as grains, sugar, consumable oils, maize, soybeans and animal feed. Entities sell products directly to consumers and businesses for use in consumer and industrial products. Entities in the industry typically purchase agricultural products from entities that grow such products (either directly or indirectly) to then conduct value-adding activities (for example, processing, trading, distributing and milling). Agricultural products entities also are involved in wholesale and distribution. Entities in the industry may source a substantial portion of agricultural commodities from third-party growers in various countries. Therefore, managing sustainability risks within the supply chain is critical to securing a reliable raw materials supply and reducing the risk of price increases and volatility over the long term.
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Relevant Issues for both Industries (11 of 26)

Why are some issues greyed out? The SASB Standards vary by industry based on the different sustainability-related risks and opportunities within an industry. The issues in grey were not identified during the standard-setting process as the most likely to be useful to investors, so they are not included in the Standard. Over time, as the ISSB continues to receive market feedback, some issues may be added or removed from the Standard. Each company determines which sustainability-related risks and opportunities are relevant to its business. The Standard is designed for the typical company in an industry, but individual companies may choose to report on different sustainability-related risks and opportunities based on their unique business model.

Disclosure Topics

What is the relationship between General Issue Category and Disclosure Topics? The General Issue Category is an industry-agnostic version of the Disclosure Topics that appear in each SASB Standard. Disclosure topics represent the industry-specific impacts of General Issue Categories. The industry-specific Disclosure Topics ensure each SASB Standard is tailored to the industry, while the General Issue Categories enable comparability across industries. For example, Health & Nutrition is a disclosure topic in the Non-Alcoholic Beverages industry, representing an industry-specific measure of the general issue of Customer Welfare. The issue of Customer Welfare, however, manifests as the Counterfeit Drugs disclosure topic in the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals industry.
  • E-Commerce Remove
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    • GHG Emissions The category addresses direct (Scope 1) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that a company generates through its operations. This includes GHG emissions from stationary (e.g., factories, power plants) and mobile sources (e.g., trucks, delivery vehicles, planes), whether a result of combustion of fuel or non-combusted direct releases during activities such as natural resource extraction, power generation, land use, or biogenic processes. The category further includes management of regulatory risks, environmental compliance, and reputational risks and opportunities, as they related to direct GHG emissions. The seven GHGs covered under the Kyoto Protocol are included within the category—carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).
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    • Energy Management The category addresses environmental impacts associated with energy consumption. It addresses the company’s management of energy in manufacturing and/or for provision of products and services derived from utility providers (grid energy) not owned or controlled by the company. More specifically, it includes management of energy efficiency and intensity, energy mix, as well as grid reliance. Upstream (e.g., suppliers) and downstream (e.g., product use) energy use is not included in the scope.
      • Hardware Infrastructure Energy & Water Management The E-Commerce industry uses a large part of the energy it consumes to power critical hardware and IT infrastructure in data centres. Data centres must be powered continuously, and disruptions to the energy supply can have a material impact on operations, depending on the disruption magnitude and timing. Entities also face a trade-off between energy and water consumption for their data centre cooling needs. Cooling data centres with water instead of chillers improves energy efficiency, but this method can result in dependence on potentially scarce local water resources. Entities that effectively manage this issue may benefit from cost savings and minimise reputational risks, because concerns over energy and water use are growing.
    • Water & Wastewater Management The category addresses a company’s water use, water consumption, wastewater generation, and other impacts of operations on water resources, which may be influenced by regional differences in the availability and quality of and competition for water resources. More specifically, it addresses management strategies including, but not limited to, water efficiency, intensity, and recycling. Lastly, the category also addresses management of wastewater treatment and discharge, including groundwater and aquifer pollution.
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    • Customer Privacy The category addresses management of risks related to the use of personally identifiable information (PII) and other customer or user data for secondary purposes including but not limited to marketing through affiliates and non-affiliates. The scope of the category includes social issues that may arise from a company’s approach to collecting data, obtaining consent (e.g., opt-in policies), managing user and customer expectations regarding how their data is used, and managing evolving regulation. It excludes social issues arising from cybersecurity risks, which are covered in a separate category.
      • Data Privacy & Advertising Standards Entities in the E-Commerce industry have access to consumer information including financial information, purchase history and basic demographic data. Entities must carefully manage two separate and often conflicting priorities. Entities compete by leveraging data to provide users with relevant services and target advertising or product recommendations based on consumers’ preferences and behaviour patterns, but their access to a range of user data may raise privacy concerns among users and the public at large. These privacy concerns can result in increased regulatory scrutiny. Failure to manage the issue can result in incremental costs associated with managing regulatory and reputational risks. Furthermore, effective management in this area can increase user confidence and loyalty, which are particularly important to maintain market share.
    • Data Security The category addresses management of risks related to collection, retention, and use of sensitive, confidential, and/or proprietary customer or user data. It includes social issues that may arise from incidents such as data breaches in which personally identifiable information (PII) and other user or customer data may be exposed. It addresses a company’s strategy, policies, and practices related to IT infrastructure, staff training, record keeping, cooperation with law enforcement, and other mechanisms used to ensure security of customer or user data.
      • Data Security The business models of entities in the E-Commerce industry depend on an entity’s ability to securely process electronic payments. As consumers become more educated about the threats of cybercrime, their perceptions of an entity’s cybersecurity will become increasingly important to maintain or gain market share. The most trusted brands have an opportunity to position themselves favourably in the eyes of consumers and gain a significant competitive advantage. Conversely, entities that are perceived to be vulnerable to cybersecurity breaches may experience financial consequences in the form of fines, litigation and decreased market share.
    • Product Quality & Safety The category addresses issues involving unintended characteristics of products sold or services provided that may create health or safety risks to end-users. It addresses a company’s ability to offer manufactured products and/or services that meet customer expectations with respect to their health and safety characteristics. It includes, but is not limited to, issues involving liability, management of recalls and market withdrawals, product testing, and chemicals/content/ingredient management in products.
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    • Employee Health & Safety The category addresses a company’s ability to create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace environment that is free of injuries, fatalities, and illness (both chronic and acute). It is traditionally accomplished through implementing safety management plans, developing training requirements for employees and contractors, and conducting regular audits of their own practices as well as those of their subcontractors. The category further captures how companies ensure physical and mental health of workforce through technology, training, corporate culture, regulatory compliance, monitoring and testing, and personal protective equipment.
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    • Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion The category addresses a company’s ability to ensure that its culture and hiring and promotion practices embrace the building of a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the makeup of local talent pools and its customer base. It addresses the issues of discriminatory practices on the bases of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and other factors.
      • Employee Recruitment, Inclusion & Performance Employees are essential contributors to value creation in the E-Commerce industry. In important markets, a shortage of technically skilled domestic workers has created intense competition to acquire such employees, contributing to high turnover rates. This competition for skilled workers and the search for innovative opportunities presents several interrelated sustainability challenges regarding human capital that entities must manage. Entities offer significant monetary and nonmonetary benefits to improve employee engagement, retention and productivity. Initiatives to improve employee engagement and work-life balance might positively influence the recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce. Efforts to recruit from and develop globally diverse talent pools can serve to address skilled worker shortages and improve the value of entity offerings more generally. Greater workforce diversity is important for innovation, and it helps entities understand the needs of their diverse and global customer base.
    • Product Design & Lifecycle Management The category addresses incorporation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations in characteristics of products and services provided or sold by the company. It includes, but is not limited to, managing the lifecycle impacts of products and services, such as those related to packaging, distribution, use-phase resource intensity, and other environmental and social externalities that may occur during their use-phase or at the end of life. The category captures a company’s ability to address customer and societal demand for more sustainable products and services as well as to meet evolving environmental and social regulation. It does not address direct environmental or social impacts of the company’s operations nor does it address health and safety risks to consumers from product use, which are covered in other categories.
      • Product Packaging & Distribution A significant part of the E-Commerce industry’s added value comes from an entity’s ability to move a wide array of goods efficiently to consumers who would otherwise have to personally travel to collect the goods from brick-and-mortar stores. As the volume of packaging shipments increases, the industry may become more exposed to environmental externalities, such as carbon pricing and rising fuel costs that present risks associated with the shipping of products. While entities that outsource shipping and logistics have less control over the specific processes of shipping operations, they still can select suppliers with more energy-efficient business practices. Because this is a highly competitive and low-margin industry, the ability to reduce shipping costs through fuel reduction and more efficient routing may permit entities to pass those savings on to their customers. E-commerce entities also have an incentive to minimise the use of packaging. Efficient packaging can decrease costs by reducing the amount of purchased packaging material, as well as saving logistics costs because more products may fit into a single shipping load.
    • Supply Chain Management The category addresses management of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks within a company’s supply chain. It addresses issues associated with environmental and social externalities created by suppliers through their operational activities. Such issues include, but are not limited to, environmental responsibility, human rights, labour practices, and ethics and corruption. Management may involve screening, selection, monitoring, and engagement with suppliers on their environmental and social impacts. The category does not address the impacts of external factors – such as climate change and other environmental and social factors – on suppliers’ operations and/or on the availability and pricing of key resources, which is covered in a separate category.
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    • Materials Sourcing & Efficiency The category addresses issues related to the resilience of materials supply chains to impacts of climate change and other external environmental and social factors. It captures the impacts of such external factors on operational activity of suppliers, which can further affect availability and pricing of key resources. It addresses a company’s ability to manage these risks through product design, manufacturing, and end-of-life management, such as by using of recycled and renewable materials, reducing the use of key materials (dematerialization), maximizing resource efficiency in manufacturing, and making R&D investments in substitute materials. Additionally, companies can manage these issues by screening, selection, monitoring, and engagement with suppliers to ensure their resilience to external risks. It does not address issues associated with environmental and social externalities created by operational activity of individual suppliers, which is covered in a separate category.
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  • Agricultural Products Remove
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    • GHG Emissions The category addresses direct (Scope 1) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that a company generates through its operations. This includes GHG emissions from stationary (e.g., factories, power plants) and mobile sources (e.g., trucks, delivery vehicles, planes), whether a result of combustion of fuel or non-combusted direct releases during activities such as natural resource extraction, power generation, land use, or biogenic processes. The category further includes management of regulatory risks, environmental compliance, and reputational risks and opportunities, as they related to direct GHG emissions. The seven GHGs covered under the Kyoto Protocol are included within the category—carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).
      • Greenhouse Gas Emissions Entities in the Agricultural Products industry generate direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from processing and transporting goods via land and sea freight operations. Emissions regulations may increase the cost of capital, operational costs and affect the operational efficiency of entities without strategies to manage GHG emissions. Employing innovative technologies that use alternative fuels and energy inputs—including biomass waste generated from internal processes—and improving fuel efficiency are ways entities can limit exposure to volatile fuel pricing, supply disruptions, future regulatory costs and other potential consequences of GHG emissions.
    • Energy Management The category addresses environmental impacts associated with energy consumption. It addresses the company’s management of energy in manufacturing and/or for provision of products and services derived from utility providers (grid energy) not owned or controlled by the company. More specifically, it includes management of energy efficiency and intensity, energy mix, as well as grid reliance. Upstream (e.g., suppliers) and downstream (e.g., product use) energy use is not included in the scope.
      • Energy Management Processing and milling agricultural products require substantial energy input. While some agricultural products entities generate energy on-site through the direct combustion of fossil fuels or biomass, most energy is procured from the electrical grid. Energy consumption contributes to environmental impacts, including climate change and pollution. Energy management affects current and future costs of operation. Climate regulation and other sustainability factors could result in higher or more volatile electricity and fuel prices, increasing operating costs for agricultural products entities. Therefore, energy efficiency gained through process improvements can lower operating costs. The trade-off between on-site versus grid-sourced electricity as well as the use of alternative energy can play important roles in influencing both the long-term cost and reliability of an entity’s energy supply and the extent of regulatory impact from direct versus indirect emissions.
    • Water & Wastewater Management The category addresses a company’s water use, water consumption, wastewater generation, and other impacts of operations on water resources, which may be influenced by regional differences in the availability and quality of and competition for water resources. More specifically, it addresses management strategies including, but not limited to, water efficiency, intensity, and recycling. Lastly, the category also addresses management of wastewater treatment and discharge, including groundwater and aquifer pollution.
      • Water Management The Agricultural Products industry relies on water for processing activities, and entities in the industry also typically generate wastewater or effluent. The availability of water, because of physical availability or regulatory access, directly impacts the industry’s ability to operate processing facilities efficiently. Entities in the industry increasingly are exposed to water-related risks and regulations, which may increase capital expenditure costs, operating costs, remediation costs or potential fines. Entities can manage water-related risks and opportunities and mitigate long-term costs through capital investments and assessment of facility locations relative to water scarcity risks, improvements to operational efficiency, and work with regulators and communities on issues related to water access and effluent. A separate supply chain-oriented topic, Ingredient Sourcing, addresses the risks related to crop production driven by water availability and access.
    • Customer Privacy The category addresses management of risks related to the use of personally identifiable information (PII) and other customer or user data for secondary purposes including but not limited to marketing through affiliates and non-affiliates. The scope of the category includes social issues that may arise from a company’s approach to collecting data, obtaining consent (e.g., opt-in policies), managing user and customer expectations regarding how their data is used, and managing evolving regulation. It excludes social issues arising from cybersecurity risks, which are covered in a separate category.
      None
    • Data Security The category addresses management of risks related to collection, retention, and use of sensitive, confidential, and/or proprietary customer or user data. It includes social issues that may arise from incidents such as data breaches in which personally identifiable information (PII) and other user or customer data may be exposed. It addresses a company’s strategy, policies, and practices related to IT infrastructure, staff training, record keeping, cooperation with law enforcement, and other mechanisms used to ensure security of customer or user data.
      None
    • Product Quality & Safety The category addresses issues involving unintended characteristics of products sold or services provided that may create health or safety risks to end-users. It addresses a company’s ability to offer manufactured products and/or services that meet customer expectations with respect to their health and safety characteristics. It includes, but is not limited to, issues involving liability, management of recalls and market withdrawals, product testing, and chemicals/content/ingredient management in products.
      • Food Safety Agricultural products are either sold directly to consumers in raw form or are processed beforehand. Maintaining product quality and safety is critical because contamination by pathogens, chemicals or spoilage presents serious health risks to humans and animals. Contamination may result from poor farming, transport, storage or handling practices. Food quality and safety issues can result in changes in demand and regulatory action. Product recalls can harm brand reputation, reduce revenues and involve costly fines. Obtaining food safety certifications and ensuring suppliers follow food safety guidelines may help entities safeguard against product safety risks and improve consumers’ perceived quality of their products.
    • Employee Health & Safety The category addresses a company’s ability to create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace environment that is free of injuries, fatalities, and illness (both chronic and acute). It is traditionally accomplished through implementing safety management plans, developing training requirements for employees and contractors, and conducting regular audits of their own practices as well as those of their subcontractors. The category further captures how companies ensure physical and mental health of workforce through technology, training, corporate culture, regulatory compliance, monitoring and testing, and personal protective equipment.
      • Workforce Health & Safety Industrial processes used in the Agricultural Products industry present significant occupational hazards. Employees may be engaged in labour-intensive activities involving common hazards such as falls, transportation accidents, equipment-related accidents, and heat-related illness or injury, among others. Violations of health and safety standards could result in regulatory penalties and costs for corrective actions. High injury and fatality rates may suggest that an entity has a weak governance structure and a weak workplace safety culture and could result in significant reputational harm. Strong performance on managing workforce health and safety can help build brand image and promote worker morale, which may result in increased productivity, reduced worker turnover and enhanced community relations.
    • Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion The category addresses a company’s ability to ensure that its culture and hiring and promotion practices embrace the building of a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the makeup of local talent pools and its customer base. It addresses the issues of discriminatory practices on the bases of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and other factors.
      None
    • Product Design & Lifecycle Management The category addresses incorporation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations in characteristics of products and services provided or sold by the company. It includes, but is not limited to, managing the lifecycle impacts of products and services, such as those related to packaging, distribution, use-phase resource intensity, and other environmental and social externalities that may occur during their use-phase or at the end of life. The category captures a company’s ability to address customer and societal demand for more sustainable products and services as well as to meet evolving environmental and social regulation. It does not address direct environmental or social impacts of the company’s operations nor does it address health and safety risks to consumers from product use, which are covered in other categories.
      None
    • Supply Chain Management The category addresses management of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks within a company’s supply chain. It addresses issues associated with environmental and social externalities created by suppliers through their operational activities. Such issues include, but are not limited to, environmental responsibility, human rights, labour practices, and ethics and corruption. Management may involve screening, selection, monitoring, and engagement with suppliers on their environmental and social impacts. The category does not address the impacts of external factors – such as climate change and other environmental and social factors – on suppliers’ operations and/or on the availability and pricing of key resources, which is covered in a separate category.
      • Environmental & Social Impacts of Ingredient Supply Chain Agricultural products entities source agricultural inputs from many suppliers. How entities in the industry engage with suppliers on environmental and social issues may affect consumer demand, reputational risks, and the ability of entities to effectively manage their crop supply and respond to price fluctuations. Supply chain management issues related to labour, environmental practices, ethics or corruption may result in regulatory fines or increased long-term operational costs for entities. Similarly, agricultural products entities may face reputational damage if their suppliers perform poorly on environmental or social issues. Entities can mitigate these risks and potentially increase consumer demand or access new market opportunities by engaging with essential suppliers to implement sustainable agricultural practices or source from certified suppliers.
      • GMO Management Agricultural products developed using genetically modified organism (GMO) technology have experienced increasing consumer interest. In many cases, GMO technology has enabled improvements in crop yield through development of disease- or drought-resistant strains, but consumer concerns persist regarding the perceived health, environmental or social impacts related to the cultivation and consumption of GMOs. Some jurisdictions have banned the use or cultivation of GMOs. Food and beverage entities along the food supply chain, including entities in the Agricultural Products industry, are seeking effective means to assess GMO-related risks and opportunities, and to effectively communicate with consumers on the topic. Entities in the Agricultural Products industry that can meet changing consumer trends and regulatory changes through their products or effective communication may reduce potential reputational risks and revenue loss as well as access new market opportunities.
    • Materials Sourcing & Efficiency The category addresses issues related to the resilience of materials supply chains to impacts of climate change and other external environmental and social factors. It captures the impacts of such external factors on operational activity of suppliers, which can further affect availability and pricing of key resources. It addresses a company’s ability to manage these risks through product design, manufacturing, and end-of-life management, such as by using of recycled and renewable materials, reducing the use of key materials (dematerialization), maximizing resource efficiency in manufacturing, and making R&D investments in substitute materials. Additionally, companies can manage these issues by screening, selection, monitoring, and engagement with suppliers to ensure their resilience to external risks. It does not address issues associated with environmental and social externalities created by operational activity of individual suppliers, which is covered in a separate category.
      • Ingredient Sourcing Agricultural products entities source a wide variety of commodities and ingredients from farmers or intermediary distributors. The industry’s ability to reliably source ingredients at desired price points fluctuates with crop yield, which may be affected by climate change, water scarcity, land management and other resource scarcity considerations. Entities that source more productive and less resource-intensive crops, or those that work closely with suppliers to increase their adaptability to climate change and other resource scarcity risks, may reduce crop price volatility and crop supply disruptions. Additionally, entities may improve their brand reputation and develop new market opportunities. Failure to effectively manage sourcing risks can result in higher costs of capital, reduced margins and constrained revenue growth.

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