Industry Comparison

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Current language: English (2023)

You are viewing information about the following Industries:

  • Alcoholic Beverages Alcoholic Beverages industry entities brew, distil and manufacture various alcoholic beverages including beer, wine and liquor. Entities in this industry transform agricultural products including sugar, barley and corn, into finished alcoholic beverages. The largest entities have global operations with portfolios of man branded products. Levels of vertical integration within the industry vary because of regulation in different markets. Breweries generally have multiple manufacturing facilities to provide access to different markets, while vintners and distillers typically are located where they have a history of production.
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  • Air Freight & Logistics Air Freight & Logistics industry entities provide freight services and transportation logistics to both businesses and individuals. The industry consists of three main segments: air freight transportation, post and courier services, and transportation logistics services. Entities in the industry earn revenue from one or more of the segments and range from non-asset-based to asset-heavy. Transportation logistics services include contracting with road, rail, marine and air freight entities to select and hire appropriate transportation. Services also may include customs brokerage, distribution management, vendor consolidation, cargo insurance, purchase order management and customised logistics information. The industry is crucial to global trade, granting it a degree of demand stability.
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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.
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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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    • Air Quality The category addresses management of air quality impacts resulting from stationary (e.g., factories, power plants) and mobile sources (e.g., trucks, delivery vehicles, planes) as well as industrial emissions. Relevant airborne pollutants include, but are not limited to, oxides of nitrogen (NOx), oxides of sulfur (SOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), heavy metals, particulate matter, and chlorofluorocarbons. The category does not include GHG emissions, which are addressed in a separate category.
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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.
      • Energy Management Entities in the Alcoholic Beverages industry rely on both fuel and purchased electricity as critical inputs. Fossil fuel and electrical energy consumption can contribute to negative environmental impacts, including climate change and pollution. These impacts have the potential to affect the value of entities in this industry since greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions regulations and new incentives for energy efficiency and renewable energy could result in increased fossil fuels and conventional electricity price volatility, while making alternative sources more cost-competitive. Entities that manage for increased energy efficiency and use alternative energy sources may increase profitability by reducing both expenses and risks.
    • 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 Water management includes an entity’s direct water use, exposure to water scarcity and management of wastewater. Entities in the Alcoholic Beverages industry use a large amount of water in their operations, since water is a key input for their finished products. Given alcoholic beverage entities’ heavy reliance on large volumes of clean water and water scarcity is increasing in different regions globally, entities may be exposed to supply disruptions that could significantly impact operations and increase costs. Entities operating in water-stressed regions that fail to address local water concerns may risk losing their social license to operate. Improving water management through increased efficiency and recycling, particularly in regions with baseline water stress, can result in lower operating costs, reduced risks and higher intangible asset value.
    • Selling Practices & Product Labeling The category addresses social issues that may arise from a failure to manage the transparency, accuracy, and comprehensibility of marketing statements, advertising, and labeling of products and services. It includes, but is not limited to, advertising standards and regulations, ethical and responsible marketing practices, misleading or deceptive labeling, as well as discriminatory or predatory selling and lending practices. This may include deceptive or aggressive selling practices in which incentive structures for employees could encourage the sale of products or services that are not in the best interest of customers or clients.
      • Responsible Drinking & Marketing The irresponsible consumption of alcoholic beverages can lead to negative social externalities such as drunk driving, addiction, underage drinking, death and many other public health issues. Every year, alcohol consumption contributes to millions of deaths worldwide, including a sizeable proportion of underage youth and young adults. The harmful use of alcohol presents an acute concern in countries that lack strong laws to protect against alcohol’s detrimental effects. Entities may be required to internalise the costs of these social externalities through taxes, lawsuits, or reputational harm, which can have substantial financial consequences. Failing to effectively manage social externalities may result in unfavourable regulation and impair the entity’s social licence to operate. Through education, engagement, community partnerships and responsible marketing, particularly to underage individuals, entities can address and mitigate many of the social externalities associated with alcohol misuse. Entities that effectively manage this issue can reduce the likelihood of extraordinary expenses, improve market share and decrease liabilities.
    • Labour Practices The category addresses the company’s ability to uphold commonly accepted labour standards in the workplace, including compliance with labour laws and internationally accepted norms and standards. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring basic human rights related to child labour, forced or bonded labour, exploitative labour, fair wages and overtime pay, and other basic workers’ rights. It also includes minimum wage policies and provision of benefits, which may influence how a workforce is attracted, retained, and motivated. The category further addresses a company’s relationship with organized labour and freedom of association.
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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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    • 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.
      • Packaging Lifecycle Management Packaging materials represent a significant cost to entities in the Alcoholic Beverages industry. Although many alcoholic beverage entities do not manufacture their own bottles and packaging, they face reputational risks associated with the negative externalities that their products’ containers are associated with over their lifecycle. Entities are also directly affected by legislation regarding end-of-life management of beverage containers. Alcoholic beverage entities can work with packaging manufacturers on packaging design to generate cost savings, improve brand reputation and reduce the environmental impact of packaging. Efforts to reduce the amount of material used in packaging can reduce transportation costs, exposure to supply and price volatility and the amount of virgin material extracted for manufacturing. In the end-of-life phase, take-back and recycling programmes and partnerships can meet regulations, help achieve cost savings and reduce environmental impacts. Entities that effectively manage this issue can improve profitability and reduce the cost of capital.
    • 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 Entities in the Alcoholic Beverages industry manage global supply chains to source a wide range of ingredient inputs. How entities screen, monitor and engage with suppliers on environmental and social topics affects entities’ ability to secure supply and manage price fluctuations. Supply chain interruption can cause loss of revenue and negatively impact market share if entities are unable to find alternatives for key suppliers or must source ingredients at a higher cost. Supply chain management issues related to labour practices, environmental responsibility, ethics or corruption may also result in regulatory fines or increased long-term operational costs. The consumer-facing nature of the industry increases the reputational risks associated with supplier actions. Managing an entity’s exposure to environmental and social risks may improve supply chain resiliency and enhance an entity’s reputation. Entities can engage with key suppliers to manage environmental and social risks to improve supply chain resiliency, mitigate reputational risks and potentially increase consumer demand or capture 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 Entities in the Alcoholic Beverages industry source a wide range of ingredients, largely agricultural inputs, from suppliers worldwide. The industry’s ability to source ingredients fluctuates with supply availability, which may be affected by climate change, water scarcity, land management and other resource scarcity considerations. This exposure can result in price volatility and can affect entity profitability. Ultimately, climate change, water scarcity and land-use restriction present risks to an entity’s long-term ability to source key materials and ingredients. Entities that source ingredients that are more productive, effectively cultivated and less resource-intensive, or those that work closely with suppliers to increase their adaptability to climate change and manage exposure to other resource scarcity risks may reduce price volatility or supply disruptions.
    • Critical Incident Risk Management The category addresses the company’s use of management systems and scenario planning to identify, understand, and prevent or minimize the occurrence of low-probability, high-impact accidents and emergencies with significant potential environmental and social externalities. It relates to the culture of safety at a company, its relevant safety management systems and technological controls, the potential human, environmental, and social implications of such events occurring, and the long-term effects to an organization, its workers, and society should these events occur.
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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 Air Freight & Logistics industry entities generate direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to climate change. Emissions are generated from fuel combustion by both air and road freight operations. Given the altitude of the emissions from jet fuel, air freight makes an especially potent contribution to climate change. Management of GHG emissions is likely to affect air freight and logistics entities’ cost structure over time because emissions are tied directly to fuel use, and thus to operating expenses. Fuel efficiency and alternative fuels usage may reduce fuel costs or limit exposure to volatile fuel pricing, future regulatory costs and other consequences of GHG emissions. While newer aircraft and trucks are generally more fuel efficient, existing fleets may be retrofitted. Capital investments in more fuel-efficient aeroplanes or vehicles and emerging fuel-management technology may reduce fuel expenses and improve profitability. These investments also may help entities capture market share of customers seeking low-carbon shipping solutions.
    • Air Quality The category addresses management of air quality impacts resulting from stationary (e.g., factories, power plants) and mobile sources (e.g., trucks, delivery vehicles, planes) as well as industrial emissions. Relevant airborne pollutants include, but are not limited to, oxides of nitrogen (NOx), oxides of sulfur (SOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), heavy metals, particulate matter, and chlorofluorocarbons. The category does not include GHG emissions, which are addressed in a separate category.
      • Air Quality Entities in the Air Freight & Logistics industry generate air pollutants that may threaten human health. The industry’s primary air emissions include sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM), which negatively affect local air quality. As regulators debate the most efficient mechanisms to reduce local air pollution from the industry, entities may be forced to increase operating costs or make investments to modernise their fleets because of regulatory pressure, customer demand and rising fuel costs. Use of more expensive alternative fuels and mechanisms that filter emissions prior to release into the atmosphere also may affect an entity’s cost structure, requiring upfront costs but decreasing regulatory exposure over the long term.
    • 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.
      None
    • 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.
      None
    • Selling Practices & Product Labeling The category addresses social issues that may arise from a failure to manage the transparency, accuracy, and comprehensibility of marketing statements, advertising, and labeling of products and services. It includes, but is not limited to, advertising standards and regulations, ethical and responsible marketing practices, misleading or deceptive labeling, as well as discriminatory or predatory selling and lending practices. This may include deceptive or aggressive selling practices in which incentive structures for employees could encourage the sale of products or services that are not in the best interest of customers or clients.
      None
    • Labour Practices The category addresses the company’s ability to uphold commonly accepted labour standards in the workplace, including compliance with labour laws and internationally accepted norms and standards. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring basic human rights related to child labour, forced or bonded labour, exploitative labour, fair wages and overtime pay, and other basic workers’ rights. It also includes minimum wage policies and provision of benefits, which may influence how a workforce is attracted, retained, and motivated. The category further addresses a company’s relationship with organized labour and freedom of association.
      • Labour Practices The Air Freight & Logistic industry’s reliance on independent contractors, mainly for courier driving, has come under increasing legal and regulatory scrutiny. The applicable jurisdictional laws and regulations that protect employees may not cover independent contractors, and entities may face regulatory sanctions for misclassifying employees as independent contractors. Entities also may face legal actions from employee and contractor claims regarding wage payments, benefits and working conditions. Legal actions also may negatively affect an entity’s brand value and ability to hire and retain employees, reducing operational efficiency and increasing turnover costs.
    • 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 The Air Freight & Logistics industry may expose employees to dangerous working conditions, including accidents resulting from mechanical failure or human error. Additionally, moving packages manually is a physical process that requires special training to minimise injury. Although the fatal occupational injury rate for trucking workers is higher than average, worker safety issues in aviation are regulated strictly, which raises the risk of fines or penalties when an incident occurs. Health and safety incidents may result in work stoppages and a range of costs, from medical expenses to workers’ compensation. Such incidents also may reduce productivity, and thus revenues, if employees believe their safety and well-being are being neglected. Finally, entities with poor safety records also may face increased insurance premiums and higher costs of capital, as well as reputational damage that may reduce revenue and market share. An entity may mitigate these effects by providing adequate employee protection and training, ensuring mechanical equipment is functioning safely, and establishing a culture of workplace safety.
    • 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.
      • Supply Chain Management Many entities in the Air Freight & Logistics industry contract with large, complex networks of asset-based third-party providers to provide freight transportation services to their customers. Contracting is common among entities providing freight forwarding, logistics, brokerage and intermodal services. These contractors operate across all modes of transport such as motor carriers, railroads, air freight and ocean carriers. Entities must manage contractor relationships to ensure contractor actions that may result in environmental or social impacts do not result in material adverse effects on their own operations, such as decreased brand value. At the same time, entities that offer low-carbon logistics solutions may capture market share from customers seeking to reduce the carbon footprint of their shipments.
    • 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.
      None
    • Critical Incident Risk Management The category addresses the company’s use of management systems and scenario planning to identify, understand, and prevent or minimize the occurrence of low-probability, high-impact accidents and emergencies with significant potential environmental and social externalities. It relates to the culture of safety at a company, its relevant safety management systems and technological controls, the potential human, environmental, and social implications of such events occurring, and the long-term effects to an organization, its workers, and society should these events occur.
      • Accident & Safety Management All modes of transportation pose safety risks. In some cases, mechanical failure or human error may result in accidents with significant environmental or social consequences, including regulatory action and lawsuits from impacted communities or customers. Although the stringency of regulatory requirements may vary by the region of operation, entities that maintain the highest safety standards throughout their global operations may minimise the risks of safety incidents that affect their reputation and profitability.

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