Governance

The Board and committees provide leadership to implement the principles of good corporate governance across Mondi , ensuring all decisions and actions are based on integrity, responsibility, accountability, fairness and transparency. The Board reviews the performance approach and outcomes.

The Group Sustainable Development (SD) team provides guidance and helps to define the actions required to achieve our sustainability goals and commitments. This includes monitoring and assessing material risks and opportunities facing the Group along with emerging changes to the regulatory environment, developments in our social and environmental operating context, and evolving stakeholder needs and expectations. It also informs, challenges and supports our businesses to respond to stakeholder needs and expectations, and shape our long-term response to relevant global trends. 

The SD team oversees the management of the Sustainable Development Management System (SDMS) and facilitates all Group sustainability reporting and external assurance. Internal and external engagement is a key responsibility. Internally, this means supporting businesses to better identify, understand and address relevant sustainability-related topics, business risks and opportunities, as well as reporting our positions and performance against our commitments. 

Externally, it involves overseeing and fostering collaboration with stakeholders to develop a shared understanding of the SD landscape and tackle the issues no single sector or organisation can solve alone. This engagement leverages Mondi’s influence through sharing best practice, knowledge and resources, and by supporting and collaborating with scientific and academic institutes, underlining our belief that science plays a crucial role in creating a more sustainable and equitable world. 

Our internal audit function is an integral part of the Group’s governance framework and provides an independent assurance function. 

Group Internal Audit reports to the Audit Committee and is mandated to perform Group-wide reviews of key processes, projects and systems, based on Mondi’s strategy and most significant risks. These are what underpin Mondi’s system of internal controls, which are comprised of the policies, procedures, practices and organisational culture that collectively support the effectiveness of our operations in the pursuit of objectives. 

Our Sustainable Development Management System (SDMS) guides the effective governance of our sustainable development activities and the implementation of our policies and standards. It covers all facilities and activities that we manage and operate (including those in which we hold a controlling interest), new developments, and mergers and acquisitions. Activities undertaken by contractors, either on Mondi sites or while under our management, are incorporated into our SDMS. This requires them to comply with our policies, standards and requirements, particularly in relation to safety and health at work. 

Updated Group Sustainable Development Policies (2023), approved by the Board, ensure that our policies remain relevant, comprehensive and aligned with global best practice and stakeholder expectations. We continue to review our operating standards and we are now developing draft operating standards and supporting practice notes in response to the findings. We seek appropriate expert input into the standards the Group should adopt to be in line with industry good practice and to assess our operations’ readiness to meet the upcoming requirements contained in the standards. 

Mondi's group-wide risk management framework is designed to address significant strategic, sustainable development, financial, operational and compliance risks that could undermine our ability to achieve our business objectives. We exercise due diligence prior to the introduction of new operations, practices, processes and products. 

Our sustainable development risk and change management standard guides the way we identify and mitigate sustainable development risks. Our risk management approach – particularly relating to environmental issues – incorporates the precautionary principle, which implies our responsibility to protect the natural environment from harm where there is a plausible risk. 

We update our sustainable development risk register annually to ensure mitigation plans are in place for those risks with a high likelihood of occurrence and/or impact potential. These risks include inherent operational and strategic risks. In addition to the key impacts on our business and our stakeholders, we identify sustainability trends and opportunities and seek to mitigate risks that affect our longer-term prospects and financial performance.