Industry Comparison
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Current language: English (2023)
You are viewing information about the following Industries:
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Electronic Manufacturing Services & Original Design Manufacturing
The Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) & Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) industry consists of two main segments. EMS entities provide assembly, logistics and after-market services for original equipment manufacturers. ODM entities provide engineering and design services for original equipment manufacturers and may own significant intellectual property. Although EMS & ODM entities produce equipment for a variety of sectors, the industry is associated closely with the Hardware industry, which consists of entities that design technology hardware products such as personal computers, consumer electronics and storage devices for both personal consumers and businesses. -
Food Retailers & Distributors
The Food Retailers & Distributors industry consists of entities engaged in wholesale and retail sales of food, beverage and agricultural products. Store formats include retail supermarkets, convenience stores, warehouse supermarkets, liquor stores, bakeries, natural food stores, specialty food stores, seafood stores and distribution centres. Entities may specialise in one type of store format or have facilities that contain many formats. Products typically are sourced worldwide and include fresh meat and produce, prepared foods, processed foods, baked goods, frozen and canned foods, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, and a wide selection of household goods and personal care products. Food retailers also may produce or sell private-label products.
Relevant Issues for both Industries (13 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.-
Environment
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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). - Air Quality
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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. -
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. -
Waste & Hazardous Materials Management
The category addresses environmental issues associated with hazardous and non-hazardous waste generated by companies. It addresses a company’s management of solid wastes in manufacturing, agriculture, and other industrial processes. It covers treatment, handling, storage, disposal, and regulatory compliance. The category does not cover emissions to air or wastewater nor does it cover waste from end-of-life of products, which are addressed in separate categories. - Ecological Impacts
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Social Capital
- Human Rights & Community Relations
- Customer Privacy
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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. - Access & Affordability
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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. -
Customer Welfare
The category addresses customer welfare concerns over issues including, but not limited to, health and nutrition of foods and beverages, antibiotic use in animal production, and management of controlled substances. The category addresses the company’s ability to provide consumers with manufactured products and services that are aligned with societal expectations. It does not include issues directly related to quality and safety malfunctions of manufactured products and services, but instead addresses qualities inherent to the design and delivery of products and services where customer welfare may be in question. The scope of the category also captures companies’ ability to prevent counterfeit products. -
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.
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Human Capital
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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. -
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. - Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion
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Business Model and Innovation
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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. - Business Model Resilience
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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. -
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. - Physical Impacts of Climate Change
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Leadership and Governance
- Business Ethics
- Competitive Behaviour
- Management of the Legal & Regulatory Environment
- Critical Incident Risk Management
- Systemic Risk Management
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.-
Access Standard
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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).None -
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.-
Water Management
The manufacturing of computers, computer components and other electronics requires significant volumes of water. Water is becoming a globally scarce resource because of increasing consumption from population growth, rapid urbanisation and climate change. Without careful planning, water scarcity may result in higher supply costs, social tensions with local communities and governments, or loss of access to water in water-scarce regions thereby presenting a critical risk to production and revenue. Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) & Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) entities that improve water use efficiency may reduce operating costs and maintain a lower risk profile, ultimately affecting cost of capital and market valuation. Furthermore, entities that prioritise water use efficiency may reduce regulatory risks as applicable jurisdictional environmental laws or regulations place more emphasis on resource conservation.
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Waste & Hazardous Materials Management
The category addresses environmental issues associated with hazardous and non-hazardous waste generated by companies. It addresses a company’s management of solid wastes in manufacturing, agriculture, and other industrial processes. It covers treatment, handling, storage, disposal, and regulatory compliance. The category does not cover emissions to air or wastewater nor does it cover waste from end-of-life of products, which are addressed in separate categories.-
Waste Management
The manufacturing of computers, computer components and other electronics requires significant volumes of chemicals and generates air and water emissions and solid waste, including hazardous substances. The handling and disposal of hazardous wastes produced during manufacturing may result in increased operating costs, capital expenditures, and in some instances, increased compliance costs or regulatory fines and penalties. Entities in the Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) & Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) industry that reduce waste produced during manufacturing and ensure it is appropriately reused, recycled or disposed may have a lower risk profile and face lower regulatory risks as applicable jurisdictional environmental laws or regulations place increasing emphasis on resource conservation and waste management.
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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.None -
Customer Welfare
The category addresses customer welfare concerns over issues including, but not limited to, health and nutrition of foods and beverages, antibiotic use in animal production, and management of controlled substances. The category addresses the company’s ability to provide consumers with manufactured products and services that are aligned with societal expectations. It does not include issues directly related to quality and safety malfunctions of manufactured products and services, but instead addresses qualities inherent to the design and delivery of products and services where customer welfare may be in question. The scope of the category also captures companies’ ability to prevent counterfeit products.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
Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) & Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) entities operate in a highly cost competitive environment and are therefore sensitive to labour costs and risks. Additionally, customers commonly require entities to meet tight production deadlines for important product launches, such as releases of new technology by hardware entities. Combined, these factors increase the importance of entities maintaining good relations with labour. Poor labour relations may expose entities to work stoppages and production disruptions. Such disruptions may result in reduced near-term revenue, as well as possible adverse effects on long-term productivity because of lower employee morale. In addition to maintaining an entity’s brand value and social licence to operate, improvements in labour practices may mitigate production disruptions.
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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.-
Workforce Conditions, Health & Safety
The treatment of workers and the protection of workers’ rights in the Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) & Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) industry is of growing concern among customers, regulators and leading entities. Critical aspects of this issue may include working conditions, environmental responsibility and workforce health and safety—particularly relating to hazardous materials and potentially dangerous manufacturing equipment. Entities in this industry operate in a cost competitive environment and therefore rely upon low-cost and contract labour. The industry’s reliance on subcontractors, labour recruitment entities and a multi-tiered system of suppliers may make safety performance improvement difficult. Further, entities often are located in countries with relatively low direct costs and varying degrees of regulation and enforcement for protecting workers. This dynamic may increase an entity’s exposure to reputational risks and impacts on short- and long-term costs and sales. Such effects may result from increasing regulation and enforcement in response to high-profile safety or labour incidents, or through a shift in demand away from entities associated with such incidents. Entities with strong supply-chain standards, monitoring and engagement with suppliers to manage labour concerns may better protect shareholder value over the long term.
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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.-
Product Lifecycle Management
Entities in the Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) & Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) industry, along with the industry’s customers such as hardware entities, face increasing challenges associated with environmental externalities attributed to product manufacturing, transport, use and disposal. Rapid obsolescence of hardware products may worsen such externalities. The industry’s products commonly contain hazardous materials, making safe end-of-life disposal a critical aspect to manage. Entities unable to minimise the environmental externalities of their products may face increased regulatory costs as jurisdictional environmental laws or regulations place more emphasis on resource conservation and waste management. Through product innovation that facilitates end-of-life product recovery and the use of less impactful materials, EMS & ODM manufacturers can achieve improvements in lifecycle impacts, reduce regulatory risks and realise cost savings.
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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.None -
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.-
Materials Sourcing
Entities in the Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) & Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) industry rely on numerous critical materials as important inputs for finished products. Many of these inputs have few or no available substitutes and often are sourced in a few countries, many of which may be subject to geopolitical uncertainty. Other sustainability impacts related to climate change, land use, resource scarcity and conflict in regions where the industry’s supply chain operates are also increasingly shaping the industry’s ability to source materials. Additionally, increased competition for these materials because of growing global demand from other sectors may result in price increases and supply risks. Since entities commonly source materials from supply chains that often lack transparency, they may face increasing difficulty managing potential materials shortages, supply disruptions, price volatility and reputational risks. Failure to effectively manage sourcing may constrain access to necessary materials, reduce margins, impair revenue growth or increase costs of capital.
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Access Standard
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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).-
Fleet Fuel Management
Entities in the Food Retailers & Distributors industry own and operate vehicle fleets to deliver products between its distribution and retail locations. The fuel consumption of vehicle fleets is a significant industry expense, both in terms of operating costs and associated capital expenditures. Fossil fuel consumption can contribute to environmental impacts, including climate change and pollution. These environmental impacts may affect food retailers and distributors through regulatory exposure. Efficiencies gained in fuel use can reduce costs, mitigate exposure to fossil fuel price volatility and limit the carbon footprint associated with storage and transportation. Short-term capital expenditures in fuel-efficient fleets and more energy efficient technologies may be outweighed by long-term operational savings and decreased exposure to regulatory risks. -
Air Emissions from Refrigeration
Emissions of refrigeration chemicals from equipment used to store and display perishable foods pose unique regulatory risks for the Food Retailers & Distributors industry. International regulations on hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) aim to mitigate damage by HCFCs to the earth’s ozone layer. Additionally, many common HCFCs and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are highly potent greenhouse gases (GHGs), which increases the industry’s exposure to climate change-related regulations. Regulators can assess penalties on entities that violate emissions standards. Entities may be required to upgrade or replace equipment, making capital expenditures to reduce emissions or replace existing refrigerants with potentially costlier but less environmentally-damaging alternatives.
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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
Food retail and distribution facilities are typically more energy-intensive than other types of commercial spaces. These facilities use energy predominately for refrigeration, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), as well as lighting. Entities in the industry generally purchase the majority of consumed electricity, while some are beginning to generate energy on-site or add renewable energy into their energy mix. Energy production and consumption contribute to environmental impacts, including climate change and pollution, which have the potential to indirectly, yet materially, impact the operations of food retailers and distributors. Entities that manage to increase energy efficiency and use alternative energy sources may increase profitability by reducing expenses and decreasing risk.
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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 -
Waste & Hazardous Materials Management
The category addresses environmental issues associated with hazardous and non-hazardous waste generated by companies. It addresses a company’s management of solid wastes in manufacturing, agriculture, and other industrial processes. It covers treatment, handling, storage, disposal, and regulatory compliance. The category does not cover emissions to air or wastewater nor does it cover waste from end-of-life of products, which are addressed in separate categories.-
Food Waste Management
The Food Retailers & Distributors industry generates food waste at various stages of operation. Food waste includes edible or otherwise useful food that does not reach consumers, as well as foods that spoil or are damaged during transportation or stocking or while sitting on store shelves. For entities, food waste represents losses of both saleable merchandise and resources used in food production, including land, water, labour, energy and agricultural chemicals. Food waste also contributes to food insecurity and can generate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during landfill decomposition. Effective food waste management can present financial opportunities to reduce costs associated with inventory loss, as well as help improve food security by more efficiently diverting food resources for beneficial purposes.
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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
Through electronic payment transactions, food retailers establish a relationship of trust with consumers who share their personal financial data with them. Data breaches can occur through breaches of the physical payment technology, called point-of-sale breaches, as well as through attacks on cybersecurity infrastructure. Data breaches that result in the theft or loss of customers’ personal data undermine trust in an entity’s ability to securely manage confidential information. This loss of confidence could result in reduced number of customer visits, lower revenues and diminished brand value. Retailers with strong technological and managerial systems to avoid data breaches and respond to threats effectively can position themselves favourably with customers and reduce the risk of litigation and other costs.
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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
Maintaining product quality and safety is crucial for the Food Retailers & Distributors industry, since contamination by pathogens, hazardous substances or spoilage can present risks to human health. Contamination can occur at any stage in the food value chain, including food production, processing, transportation, distribution and retail. Although entities may not be directly responsible for all food safety and recall incidents, they are involved in the process and still may experience consequences associated with incidents, such as financial ramifications, damage to brand value, lower revenues and increased costs. Measures to prevent spoilage and contamination include temperature control, frequent food inspection and careful supplier selection.
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Customer Welfare
The category addresses customer welfare concerns over issues including, but not limited to, health and nutrition of foods and beverages, antibiotic use in animal production, and management of controlled substances. The category addresses the company’s ability to provide consumers with manufactured products and services that are aligned with societal expectations. It does not include issues directly related to quality and safety malfunctions of manufactured products and services, but instead addresses qualities inherent to the design and delivery of products and services where customer welfare may be in question. The scope of the category also captures companies’ ability to prevent counterfeit products.-
Product Health & Nutrition
Consumer awareness of food content and nutritional value and their relationship to health, shapes the industry’s competitive landscape. Demand for food products that are made with natural ingredients, certified to be organic, low-fat or low-sugar, or produced without genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can create opportunities for entities. Although the links between consumer health and some foods are not well-established, consumers have nonetheless shown preferences for food categories that are perceived to be healthier than others. Food retailers that recognise the risks and opportunities presented by consumers’ shifting preferences and adapt to consumer demands may be better positioned to capture opportunities for increasing revenue and market share.
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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.-
Product Labelling & Marketing
Communication with consumers through product labelling and marketing is an important facet of food retail. The accuracy and depth of information presented in food labelling is important to shoppers and regulators. Labelling is especially relevant for the sale of private-label products manufactured for food retailers, with direct consequences on brand reputation. To inform purchasing decisions, consumers may seek additional information about product ingredients, such as the presence of genetically modified organism (GMO) content or other ingredients considered healthy or nutritious. These issues can affect competition among entities in the industry, since entities may be subject to litigation or criticism resulting from making misleading statements or failing to adapt to consumer demand for increased labelling transparency. These factors can have consequences on retailers’ brand value and revenue growth. Regulations addressing the accurate labelling of products and their ingredients present an additional risk of penalties or litigation for entities.
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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 Food Retailers & Distributors industry employs many hourly workers. Low average wages in the industry, which help entities maintain low prices for products, may result in labour-related risks. Worker dissatisfaction with wages and benefits, combined with high unionisation rates, can result in strikes which can in turn lead to business disruption and reputational damage. Additionally, entities that are involved in gender and racial discrimination cases can experience costly financial settlements. Entities may benefit from taking a long-term perspective on managing workers, including their pay and benefits, in a way that protects the rights of workers and enhances their productivity and strengthens the entity’s reputation and brand value.
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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.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.-
Management of Environmental & Social Impacts in the Supply Chain
Food retailers and distributors source merchandise from a wide range of manufacturers. These suppliers face a myriad of sustainability-related challenges that include resource conservation, water scarcity, animal welfare, fair labour practices and climate change. When poorly managed, these issues can affect the price and availability of food. Additionally, consumers increasingly are concerned with the production methods, origins and externalities associated with the foods they purchase, which may affect an entity’s reputation. Food retailers and distributors also can work with suppliers on packaging design to generate cost savings in transport, improve brand reputation and reduce environmental impact. Entities that can manage effectively product supply risks by assessing and engaging with suppliers, implementing sustainable sourcing guidelines and enhancing supply chain transparency positioned more advantageously to improve supply chain resiliency, mitigate reputational risks, and potentially increase consumer demand or capture new market opportunities.
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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.None
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General Issue Category
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Electronic Manufacturing Services & Original Design Manufacturing
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Food Retailers & Distributors
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GHG Emissions
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Fleet Fuel Management
Entities in the Food Retailers & Distributors industry own and operate vehicle fleets to deliver products between its distribution and retail locations. The fuel consumption of vehicle fleets is a significant industry expense, both in terms of operating costs and associated capital expenditures. Fossil fuel consumption can contribute to environmental impacts, including climate change and pollution. These environmental impacts may affect food retailers and distributors through regulatory exposure. Efficiencies gained in fuel use can reduce costs, mitigate exposure to fossil fuel price volatility and limit the carbon footprint associated with storage and transportation. Short-term capital expenditures in fuel-efficient fleets and more energy efficient technologies may be outweighed by long-term operational savings and decreased exposure to regulatory risks. -
Air Emissions from Refrigeration
Emissions of refrigeration chemicals from equipment used to store and display perishable foods pose unique regulatory risks for the Food Retailers & Distributors industry. International regulations on hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) aim to mitigate damage by HCFCs to the earth’s ozone layer. Additionally, many common HCFCs and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are highly potent greenhouse gases (GHGs), which increases the industry’s exposure to climate change-related regulations. Regulators can assess penalties on entities that violate emissions standards. Entities may be required to upgrade or replace equipment, making capital expenditures to reduce emissions or replace existing refrigerants with potentially costlier but less environmentally-damaging alternatives.
Energy Management
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Energy Management
Food retail and distribution facilities are typically more energy-intensive than other types of commercial spaces. These facilities use energy predominately for refrigeration, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), as well as lighting. Entities in the industry generally purchase the majority of consumed electricity, while some are beginning to generate energy on-site or add renewable energy into their energy mix. Energy production and consumption contribute to environmental impacts, including climate change and pollution, which have the potential to indirectly, yet materially, impact the operations of food retailers and distributors. Entities that manage to increase energy efficiency and use alternative energy sources may increase profitability by reducing expenses and decreasing risk.
Water & Wastewater Management
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Water Management
The manufacturing of computers, computer components and other electronics requires significant volumes of water. Water is becoming a globally scarce resource because of increasing consumption from population growth, rapid urbanisation and climate change. Without careful planning, water scarcity may result in higher supply costs, social tensions with local communities and governments, or loss of access to water in water-scarce regions thereby presenting a critical risk to production and revenue. Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) & Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) entities that improve water use efficiency may reduce operating costs and maintain a lower risk profile, ultimately affecting cost of capital and market valuation. Furthermore, entities that prioritise water use efficiency may reduce regulatory risks as applicable jurisdictional environmental laws or regulations place more emphasis on resource conservation.
Waste & Hazardous Materials Management
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Waste Management
The manufacturing of computers, computer components and other electronics requires significant volumes of chemicals and generates air and water emissions and solid waste, including hazardous substances. The handling and disposal of hazardous wastes produced during manufacturing may result in increased operating costs, capital expenditures, and in some instances, increased compliance costs or regulatory fines and penalties. Entities in the Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) & Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) industry that reduce waste produced during manufacturing and ensure it is appropriately reused, recycled or disposed may have a lower risk profile and face lower regulatory risks as applicable jurisdictional environmental laws or regulations place increasing emphasis on resource conservation and waste management.
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Food Waste Management
The Food Retailers & Distributors industry generates food waste at various stages of operation. Food waste includes edible or otherwise useful food that does not reach consumers, as well as foods that spoil or are damaged during transportation or stocking or while sitting on store shelves. For entities, food waste represents losses of both saleable merchandise and resources used in food production, including land, water, labour, energy and agricultural chemicals. Food waste also contributes to food insecurity and can generate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during landfill decomposition. Effective food waste management can present financial opportunities to reduce costs associated with inventory loss, as well as help improve food security by more efficiently diverting food resources for beneficial purposes.
Data Security
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Data Security
Through electronic payment transactions, food retailers establish a relationship of trust with consumers who share their personal financial data with them. Data breaches can occur through breaches of the physical payment technology, called point-of-sale breaches, as well as through attacks on cybersecurity infrastructure. Data breaches that result in the theft or loss of customers’ personal data undermine trust in an entity’s ability to securely manage confidential information. This loss of confidence could result in reduced number of customer visits, lower revenues and diminished brand value. Retailers with strong technological and managerial systems to avoid data breaches and respond to threats effectively can position themselves favourably with customers and reduce the risk of litigation and other costs.
Product Quality & Safety
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Food Safety
Maintaining product quality and safety is crucial for the Food Retailers & Distributors industry, since contamination by pathogens, hazardous substances or spoilage can present risks to human health. Contamination can occur at any stage in the food value chain, including food production, processing, transportation, distribution and retail. Although entities may not be directly responsible for all food safety and recall incidents, they are involved in the process and still may experience consequences associated with incidents, such as financial ramifications, damage to brand value, lower revenues and increased costs. Measures to prevent spoilage and contamination include temperature control, frequent food inspection and careful supplier selection.
Customer Welfare
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Product Health & Nutrition
Consumer awareness of food content and nutritional value and their relationship to health, shapes the industry’s competitive landscape. Demand for food products that are made with natural ingredients, certified to be organic, low-fat or low-sugar, or produced without genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can create opportunities for entities. Although the links between consumer health and some foods are not well-established, consumers have nonetheless shown preferences for food categories that are perceived to be healthier than others. Food retailers that recognise the risks and opportunities presented by consumers’ shifting preferences and adapt to consumer demands may be better positioned to capture opportunities for increasing revenue and market share.
Selling Practices & Product Labeling
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Product Labelling & Marketing
Communication with consumers through product labelling and marketing is an important facet of food retail. The accuracy and depth of information presented in food labelling is important to shoppers and regulators. Labelling is especially relevant for the sale of private-label products manufactured for food retailers, with direct consequences on brand reputation. To inform purchasing decisions, consumers may seek additional information about product ingredients, such as the presence of genetically modified organism (GMO) content or other ingredients considered healthy or nutritious. These issues can affect competition among entities in the industry, since entities may be subject to litigation or criticism resulting from making misleading statements or failing to adapt to consumer demand for increased labelling transparency. These factors can have consequences on retailers’ brand value and revenue growth. Regulations addressing the accurate labelling of products and their ingredients present an additional risk of penalties or litigation for entities.
Labour Practices
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Labour Practices
Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) & Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) entities operate in a highly cost competitive environment and are therefore sensitive to labour costs and risks. Additionally, customers commonly require entities to meet tight production deadlines for important product launches, such as releases of new technology by hardware entities. Combined, these factors increase the importance of entities maintaining good relations with labour. Poor labour relations may expose entities to work stoppages and production disruptions. Such disruptions may result in reduced near-term revenue, as well as possible adverse effects on long-term productivity because of lower employee morale. In addition to maintaining an entity’s brand value and social licence to operate, improvements in labour practices may mitigate production disruptions.
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Labour Practices
The Food Retailers & Distributors industry employs many hourly workers. Low average wages in the industry, which help entities maintain low prices for products, may result in labour-related risks. Worker dissatisfaction with wages and benefits, combined with high unionisation rates, can result in strikes which can in turn lead to business disruption and reputational damage. Additionally, entities that are involved in gender and racial discrimination cases can experience costly financial settlements. Entities may benefit from taking a long-term perspective on managing workers, including their pay and benefits, in a way that protects the rights of workers and enhances their productivity and strengthens the entity’s reputation and brand value.
Employee Health & Safety
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Workforce Conditions, Health & Safety
The treatment of workers and the protection of workers’ rights in the Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) & Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) industry is of growing concern among customers, regulators and leading entities. Critical aspects of this issue may include working conditions, environmental responsibility and workforce health and safety—particularly relating to hazardous materials and potentially dangerous manufacturing equipment. Entities in this industry operate in a cost competitive environment and therefore rely upon low-cost and contract labour. The industry’s reliance on subcontractors, labour recruitment entities and a multi-tiered system of suppliers may make safety performance improvement difficult. Further, entities often are located in countries with relatively low direct costs and varying degrees of regulation and enforcement for protecting workers. This dynamic may increase an entity’s exposure to reputational risks and impacts on short- and long-term costs and sales. Such effects may result from increasing regulation and enforcement in response to high-profile safety or labour incidents, or through a shift in demand away from entities associated with such incidents. Entities with strong supply-chain standards, monitoring and engagement with suppliers to manage labour concerns may better protect shareholder value over the long term.
Product Design & Lifecycle Management
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Product Lifecycle Management
Entities in the Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) & Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) industry, along with the industry’s customers such as hardware entities, face increasing challenges associated with environmental externalities attributed to product manufacturing, transport, use and disposal. Rapid obsolescence of hardware products may worsen such externalities. The industry’s products commonly contain hazardous materials, making safe end-of-life disposal a critical aspect to manage. Entities unable to minimise the environmental externalities of their products may face increased regulatory costs as jurisdictional environmental laws or regulations place more emphasis on resource conservation and waste management. Through product innovation that facilitates end-of-life product recovery and the use of less impactful materials, EMS & ODM manufacturers can achieve improvements in lifecycle impacts, reduce regulatory risks and realise cost savings.
Supply Chain Management
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Management of Environmental & Social Impacts in the Supply Chain
Food retailers and distributors source merchandise from a wide range of manufacturers. These suppliers face a myriad of sustainability-related challenges that include resource conservation, water scarcity, animal welfare, fair labour practices and climate change. When poorly managed, these issues can affect the price and availability of food. Additionally, consumers increasingly are concerned with the production methods, origins and externalities associated with the foods they purchase, which may affect an entity’s reputation. Food retailers and distributors also can work with suppliers on packaging design to generate cost savings in transport, improve brand reputation and reduce environmental impact. Entities that can manage effectively product supply risks by assessing and engaging with suppliers, implementing sustainable sourcing guidelines and enhancing supply chain transparency positioned more advantageously to improve supply chain resiliency, mitigate reputational risks, and potentially increase consumer demand or capture new market opportunities.
Materials Sourcing & Efficiency
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Materials Sourcing
Entities in the Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) & Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) industry rely on numerous critical materials as important inputs for finished products. Many of these inputs have few or no available substitutes and often are sourced in a few countries, many of which may be subject to geopolitical uncertainty. Other sustainability impacts related to climate change, land use, resource scarcity and conflict in regions where the industry’s supply chain operates are also increasingly shaping the industry’s ability to source materials. Additionally, increased competition for these materials because of growing global demand from other sectors may result in price increases and supply risks. Since entities commonly source materials from supply chains that often lack transparency, they may face increasing difficulty managing potential materials shortages, supply disruptions, price volatility and reputational risks. Failure to effectively manage sourcing may constrain access to necessary materials, reduce margins, impair revenue growth or increase costs of capital.