Our performance in 2009 - Sappi

78
Corporate governance continued
Sustainability executive committee
A sustainability executive committee has been constituted during 2009 as an executive management
committee with board representation, consisting of senior executive and corporate management
representatives as well as one non-executive director who chairs the committee and acts as a
link between the board and the committee. The sustainability executive committee has a charter
from the board. Its mandate is essentially to oversee the group’s sustainability strategies
and platform.
Sustainability council
A sustainability council constituted in 2008 continues in a support role to the newly formed
sustainability executive committee. The council’s focus is both strategic and operational and
membership is representative of the operational nature of many of its initiatives. Regional
councils were also created to deal with the day-to-day sustainability issues. The council plays a
key role in managing and entrenching sustainability in the business and will continue to develop
ideas and roll out programmes within the business.
Sappi strives to be a trustworthy and valuable corporate citizen. The group encourages open
dialogue, employee participation and a culture of engagement with all our stakeholders.
Sustainability information is integrated in the annual report with a summary provided on pages
8 to 13.
Please also refer to our 2009 sustainable development report available on request or at
www.sappi.com.
Executive committee
This committee comprises executive directors and senior management from Sappi Limited and
the chief executive officers of the three main regional business operations of the group. The chief
executive officer has assigned responsibility to the executive committee for a number of functional
areas relating to the management of the group, including the development of policies and
alignment of initiatives with regards to: strategic, operational, financial, governance and risk
processes. The executive committee meets monthly.
Disclosure committee
This committee comprises members of the executive committee and senior management from
various disciplines whose objective is to review and discuss any financial information prepared
for public release. Membership of the disclosure committee was expanded in 2009 to include
the regional chief financial officers. An open invitation to attend disclosure committee meetings
has been extended to the head of internal audit in line with the strategic repositioning of internal
audit as recommended in the King III Report.
Treasury committee
The treasury committee is an advisory body to the chief financial officer for Sappi’s treasury
activities and operations. The committee meets every second week. The committee comprises
senior financial and treasury managers. The responsibility of the committee is to review and
discuss treasury related matters.
Technical committees
A number of technical committees have been established which focus on global technical
alignment, performance and efficiency measurement as well as new product development.
Knowledge generated is rapidly transferred between regions through the technical committees
who help to ensure that areas of development are targeted, projects are correctly resourced and
global shuts are properly planned.
Group risk management team
The Sappi Limited board recognises that risk management success can only be achieved if all
three elements of risk, namely threat, uncertainty and opportunity, are recognised and managed
in an integrated fashion. The group risk management team is mandated by the Sappi Limited