Mondi - Engaging with stakeholders

We engage actively with our stakeholders – shareholders, customers, employees and suppliers as well as governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academic institutions, certification bodies and regulators and the media in order to understand and respond to their concerns.

Stakeholder engagement is constructively undertaken in the countries and regions in which we operate through established stakeholder engagement processes and channels. As the stakeholder identification and engagement processes by necessity address the communities and context in which each operation finds itself, we report stakeholder engagement at a local level. Stakeholders are typically grouped by interest and it is our practice to engage with all stakeholders interested and affected by our operations and products.

We appreciate and benefit from this dialogue and endeavour to maintain open and productive relationships. Through both informal and formal engagement processes, we ensure that the interest of shareholders are considered by the company at an operational level and, where appropriate, at a Group level. An example of this engagement is the SEAT process which specifically includes stakeholder mapping (including NGOs) (see the Society section for further information). At a global level, issues raised by local and international NGOs are monitored, considered and addressed, and engagement is undertaken as is required and appropriate (examples of this engagement practice is discussed in the section below on working with NGOs).

Stakeholder group	Key topics and concerns	Engagement process
Shareholders (see the Annual Report for further information)	Group financial performance Issues relating to the sustainability of the Group and its operations, in particular: safety carbon emissions energy responsible forestry land claims	Formal reporting and accountability systems, processes and structures for the JSE and LSE Annual general meetings Road shows Investor visits to sites Company briefings Company website Announcements Media releases Company reports including the annual and sustainable development reports Carbon disclosure project reports Water disclosure reports
Customers (see our website and the Product responsibility section for further information)	Changing needs of customers and consumers Innovation Responsible forestry Carbon and clean production Waste disposal Health and safety Product certification to: support market credibility help set operational benchmarks and process controls identify product lifecycle impacts	Annual and bi-annual customer satisfaction surveys Sustainability conferences, seminars and exhibitions Product exhibitions Carbon disclosure project reports Water disclosure reports Product certification and labelling Mondi website
Employees (see the People section for further information)	Job security Career development Employment equity Corporate activity Safety and health	Group policies Annual employee and climate surveys Annual training needs assessments Collective bargaining practices Two-way manager and employee communication Team briefings Dialogue sessions Intranet Internal employee publications and electronic CEO updates Recruitment and retention campaigns Performance development discussions and meetings Leadership conferences CEO conference calls around the financial calendar Socio-economic assessment toolbox (SEAT) Employees' safety and health representatives
Suppliers and contractors (see our website for further information)	Safety and health Quality control Employment practices Business training and support	Group contractor and supplier policies Surveys Questionnaires Preferential procurement programmes Enterprise development programmes
NGOs (see the Society and Environmental performance sections for further information)	Biodiversity Responsible forestry High conservation value areas Carbon and clean production Water Economic growth Human rights Traditional rights and use of natural resources Forest and product certification	Liaison with and technical cooperation with local and international NGOs Direct partnerships Multi-stakeholder forums SEAT
Communities (see the Society section for further information)	Land claims and restitution Use of natural resources Employment Mechanisation Local economic development programmes Skills development programmes Corporate social investment Environmental impact and rehabilitation Health care, in particular HIV/AIDS	Community based organisations Local government forums and programmes Industry partnerships Community engagement programmes (CEPs) SEAT Community forums Dialogue Participatory Rural Appraisals (PRAs) Annual meetings HIV/AIDS campaigns
Government (see the Annual Report, and the Economic performance and Society sections for further information)	Resource utilisation Employment Land claims and restitution Local economic development programmes Corporate social investment Licence to operate Industry specific matters	Formal processes Participation in forestry associations Participation in industry associations
Academic institutions (see the Environmental performance section for further information)	Improved operational practices, for example: biodiversity and responsible forestry	Industry specific training programmes Research and development
Media (see our website for further information)	Financial results Corporate activity Environmental issues Marketing Community related topics	Company announcements Media releases Company reports Site visits Dialogue Profiles in local media

Engaging with shareholders

We maintain effective channels of communication with our institutional, private and employee shareholders. Our Group website provides a wealth of relevant financial and business information about the Group. In addition, we respond to letters and emails from shareholders and now offer them the opportunity to receive annual reports and other shareholder communications electronically. Electronic submission of proxy votes for general meetings is also permitted. All shareholders may attend our annual general meetings. It is expected that all directors, and, in particular, the chairmen of the principal committees, will be present, providing an opportunity for shareholders to ask them questions about Mondi’s activities and prospects.

Our chief executive and chief financial officer meet institutional shareholders, analysts and fund managers on a regular basis to improve knowledge and understanding on both sides. They report back to the Boards of Mondi Limited and Mondi plc to keep them informed about the views and opinions expressed during these meetings. All contact with investors and other interested parties is conducted in line with Group guidelines to ensure, inter alia, that no price-sensitive information is made available on a selective basis.

Stakeholder engagement – shareholders

"Mondi has high standards on sustainability that we believe contribute to its success. The company's active engagement with stakeholders, commitment to FSC™ certification and carbon reduction programme are all noteworthy examples of best practice." Julie McDowell, Head of SRI, Standard Life Investments

Engaging with customers

We engage with existing and potential customers to ensure that our products and services meet their requirements and stay competitive. The development of new Mondi products, including ‘green’ solutions such as Terra Bag and the extension of the Green Range to include our full range of products, is designed to anticipate the changing needs of customers and consumers.

Engaging with employees

We take a decentralised approach to employee communications, reflecting the global spread of our operations and ensuring that information is locally relevant and shared through two-way communication between managers and their teams. While team briefings and dialogue sessions remain the primary means of communication, we also use a number of other channels, including intranets, award schemes and employee magazines such as ‘Unlimited’ for our Europe & International Division and ‘Munye’ for our South Africa Division. We also conduct annual and bi-annual employee surveys to help us understand and address employees’ concerns. Employees and their representatives are also important stakeholders in our SEAT processes and reviews. See the case study: Making a difference: Mondi's employee engagement initiative.

Stakeholder engagement – employees

In a review of feedback from the 360 degree survey on leadership criteria, employee brand workshops, E&I division climate survey and external input, the following key themes are evident and being addressed:

people have confidence in our strategy;

leaders believe in taking action, making decisions and following through;

Mondi is not as good as listening to people as we should be;

communication on Group news can be improved; and

training and people development can be improved.

Engaging with suppliers and contractors

We engage with our suppliers and contractors regularly to ensure that they meet our high standards and uphold our values. We review contracts and other agreements annually and also ask them to complete surveys and questionnaires. We run preferential procurement programmes, through which local businesses are given priority when we source goods and services. In South Africa, through Mondi Zimele, our enterprise development arm, we provide local people with assistance in setting up mutually beneficial businesses.

Engaging with academic institutions

We support academic research projects that could lead to improved operating practices; for example, projects concerning the conservation of biodiversity and the supply of ecosystem services. One such project is the Mondi Ecological Network Programme of Stellenbosch University in South Africa, sponsored by Mondi. It aims at improving the design and management of ecological networks in a plantation setting.To date, over 22,000 species have been identified and included in a comprehensive database and clear indications for the layout and management of ecological networks in maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services at the landscape level have been developed since the project started in 2008.

Stakeholder engagement – academic institutions

“Mondi’s sponsorship of the research we are doing on ecological networks enables us to work on this vital aspect of conservation, with the specific aim of maximising biodiversity conservation not only in forests, but in the production landscape in general. We appreciate the relationship we have with Mondi, which allows us to work autonomously while still giving us access to their forestry land and environmental experts.” Professor Michael Samways, Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology at Stellenbosch University

Working with NGOs

We recognise the need to work with all of our stakeholders at local, regional and group level, both in direct partnerships and through multi-stakeholder forums. Our interaction and actions are informed by those groups we deem to have a material impact on our business and on whom our activities have an impact.

We encourage the contributions made by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in identifying matters of concern, and also their engagement with environmental and social projects involving businesses, government agencies, and research and community groups.

In many cases, our collaboration with NGOs and the scientific community is producing encouraging results. One example is our involvement in a multi-stakeholder initiative in Russia to preserve areas of virgin forest with high conservation, environmental and social values. See the case study: Protecting Russia’s most precious forests: identifying HCV areas.

The WBCSD is a unique association led by some 200 chief executives from companies all over the world that is focused solely on business and sustainable development. We support the WBCSD’s ambitious Vision 2050 goals, defined as: ‘a different economic reality where economic growth has been decoupled from ecosystem destruction and excessive material consumption, and re-coupled with sustainable economic development and social well-being’, and we actively participate in its Forestry and Water Working Groups. We are a core member of the Ecosystem Focus Area and, using our forestry operations in South Africa as a pilot, participate in the Ecosystem Valuation Initiative.

At the Copenhagen climate change conference, where the outcome confirmed that governments alone cannot resolve climate change, the WBCSD spoke out for business and expressed its view that business will increasingly need to play a greater role in future.

We have a long-established, valued and constructive relationship with the WWF. This relationship has been further re-inforced, with great support from the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (WESSA), through the WESSA-WWF-Mondi Wetlands Programme, the global WWF New Generation Plantation Project and the WWF Silver Taiga HCV project in north-west Russia. All of these initiatives have attracted global attention for their achievements in conservation. For more information, please see www.wwf.org.

Mondi is the principal sponsor of the Mondi Wetlands Programme (MWP). This is a partnership between Mondi and South Africa’s two largest NGO conservation organisations - the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) and WWF South Africa - together with the Mazda Wildlife Fund. The project has achieved international recognition for the success in supporting social change that encourages wetland users and owners to manage their wetland resources in a more environmentally relevant manner.

In addition to Mondi’s collaboration with the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (WESSA) via the Mondi Wetlands Programme, we also support their Eco-Schools initiative and Twinstream Environmental Education Centre in Mtunzini. Each year a national Mondi/WESSA environmental quiz is held for schools and Mondi also donates paper to WESSA-Sharenet who print environmental learning support materials for distribution to schools, environmental centres, tertiary institutions and many other government and non-government organisations, to support the environmental and conservation work that they do in schools and communities.

As the leading multi-stakeholder initiative on forestry issues, The Forest Dialogue (TFD) successfully brought together a wide range of stakeholders to agree to coherent messages on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation REDD+. A number of institutions and negotiators used the fruits of this TFD process in their preparations and submissions for the Copenhagen climate conference. They played a key part in ensuring that REDD+ was included in the Copenhagen Accord. We are an active participant in TFD dialogue and support this new Locally Controlled Forestry initiative, which corresponds with our commitment to promote development opportunities for small forest owners and local communities in forest areas.

The HCV RN is a global network that promotes standard methodology and implementation of the high conservation value concept. In 2009, it achieved two significant milestones:

As agriculture is the single largest cause of deforestation, both achievements have laid the foundation for much wider acceptance of the HCV concept and its use in setting aside HCV areas when converting ecosystems to agriculture. We are an active member of the HCV RN and also provide financial support for its continuing work. For more information, please see www.hcvnetwork.org.

Our Gilboa estate is the first forestry property in South Africa to be declared a nature reserve under the Biodiversity Stewardship Programme. The proclamation of its status in January 2010 illustrates our constructive co-operation with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the provincial authority responsible for biodiversity in KwaZulu-Natal and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) National Grassland Programme. Gilboa is an example of Mondi’s commitment to make sustainability a reality by setting aside HCV areas.

Associations we support

See also above the section on Working with NGOs. Our participation in forums, support and membership of various associations at a local, regional and international level ensures that we stay in touch with current and proposed developments in the regulatory and commercial environment. Mondi is currently an active supporter, member or participant in:

Mondi notes the complaint by an NGO, the Centre for Environmental Rights, to the JSE Limited in respect of our participation in the SRI Index. This follows, and is related to, The National Environmental Compliance & Enforcement Report 2009-2010 released by the South African Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) in November 2010. This report stated that Mondi was requested to provide clarity in relation to certain compliance issues, and that “this information is still outstanding”.

In respect of the DEA report, Mondi notes the following: Environmental management inspectors of the DEA conducted an inspection at the Richards Bay mill in February 2009. Their report, in which the DEA raised certain issues of concern, was received in July 2009 and a response was sent by the Richards Bay mill in August 2009. A further request for clarification was received from the DEA in March 2010 and a response was sent by Mondi within the required time period in April 2010.

Following the publication of the DEA report in November 2010, Mondi has been in contact with the DEA’s Compliance and Enforcement department to understand why the NECER 2009-2010 report does not reflect the actions Mondi has taken to ensure full compliance. The response received from the DEA noted that Mondi's response was not reflected in the NECER 2009-2010 annual report since it was received in April 2010 and the NECER annual report purposely omitted any activities after 31 March 2010, which is the end of the annual reporting period.

In respect of the NGO complaint, Mondi notes that we are proud to be listed on the JSE’s SRI Ondex and is confident that robust sustainable development policies, systems and practices are in place, and that compliance with these is assured at every significant level of the business. See the case study: Richard's Bay mill odour reduction project steams ahead.