Letter from David Hathorn, Group CEO
Dear stakeholder
We are very pleased to present to shareholders and other stakeholders our Sustainable Development Report for 2010, the fourth one we have published since our listing in 2007.
As a Group, we aim to create long-term value for all our stakeholders. We provide permanent employment for around 29,000 people worldwide, and work to maximise the wealth of our shareholders. At many of our operations, we are the major employer and frequently supplement local government’s efforts to provide our communities with infrastructure, education and health care. We like to believe that we have a thorough understanding of our role and responsibilities, while recognising and managing the risks associated with the business.
We believe that – as a Group – we have developed and embedded a robust business case for sustainability throughout the business.
Reporting
We are committed to reporting regularly, consistently and with transparency. We have adopted the G3 guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as the basis for our report – see GRI content index – but, importantly, we ensure that we report clearly on our performance against the commitments we have made.
The global move towards an integrated approach to reporting, linking business and sustainability performance to provide a balanced perspective of performance to shareholders, is in line with Mondi’s plans and our 2011 report will reflect this. In addition to this comprehensive online Sustainable Development Report, we refer readers to the printed Sustainable Development Review, which can be ordered or downloaded here, and our annual report.
Taking stock
In our 2009 report, we said we had made sustainability a reality at our operations. Now, on having reached the 2010 landmark of our five-year commitments, it is useful to look back and see what we have achieved in the past five years.
During this time, we have faced a number of challenges. We had to manage the obstacles associated with growth and doing business in emerging markets, cope with the financial turbulence of the past few years highlighted by the deepest economic recession in decades, and determine how we could further minimise our impact on the environment. These were among the most significant challenges we faced.
Notably, almost all of our five-year sustainable development commitments identified by the Group in 2005 were exceeded, met or almost met (by more than 90% of target). We congratulate our management and employees on this. Our next key milestone is the 2015 sustainable development commitments, which are in the process of being finalised and will be reported on in next year's report.
For me leading by example and ‘walking the talk’ is infinitely more important than just saying that employees are a company’s greatest asset. We value each and every person and keeping our people safe is our greatest priority. We therefore deeply regret that two people were fatally injured during the year and we are more committed than ever to our policy of zero harm.
Our 2005 commitment on work-related incidents was to achieve a LTIFR of 0.1 in 2010 (employees and contractors). In 2010 our rate was 0.14, which was 53% lower than in 2005.
Mondi owns or has access to forests that we will continue managing responsibly so that they will sustainably provide our natural raw materials for many decades to come. In South Africa, we own or lease 312,000 hectares of land, while in Russia we lease and manage 2.1 million hectares. Our forests are certified as being sustainably managed by the Forest Stewardship CouncilTM (FSCTM). In South Africa, all planted land (203,000 hectares) has maintained certification. In Russia, all of our leased land (2.1 million hectares) has been assessed and certified. We have also certified 1.8 million hectares of state forests to FSCTM standards, and this figure is growing. We do not and will not buy wood from controversial sources and we are working closely with environmental authorities, communities, NGOs and academic institutions to protect the ecosystems in and around our forests.
At Mondi, we have also focused on continuous improvement to quantifiably reduce emissions, either absolutely or per tonne of saleable product, and we either match or, in most cases, exceed legal requirements. Since 2004, Mondi has invested more than €300 million in modernising our energy generation plants, including projects at Syktyvkar in Russia, Richards Bay and Merebank in South Africa, Stamboliskij in Bulgaria, Świecie in Poland and Ružomberok in Slovakia.
All Mondi operations are required to have a community liaison and engagement process in place, including a Community Engagement Plan, a Corporate Social Investment Strategy and for socially material operations, the completion and ongoing review of a socio‐economic assessment toolbox (SEAT) process.
We know that we have more to do. Three particular areas of focus in 2010 have been safety; further reductions in our emissions, in particular where these have an impact on communities; and ensuring that our social engagement activities are proactively and well-managed. I invite readers to read our many case studies on these topics for further detail. We are fully engaging with communities and the authorities to resolve issues of mutual concern.
Our commitment
We, at Mondi, are in our business for the long term and we commit ourselves to being a creator of wealth, a fair and safe employer and a responsible corporate citizen. We have reviewed our specific performance against our five-year commitments and we are in the process of finalising our 2015 commitments, which we will report on in the 2011 Sustainable Development Report. Whilst these commitments are still being developed, we will keep our focus on addressing the sustainability challenges discussed in this report, and our 2015 commitments will reflect how we plan to respond to these challenges going forward.
Last change: 24.03.2011