Nestlé in society Creating Shared Value and meeting our commitments 2015

Nestlé in society:
Creating Shared Value
Nutrition, health
and wellness
Rural development
Water
Environmental
sustainability
Human rights
and compliance
Our
people
G4-15
Caring for Climate
This year was particularly important for this joint initiative
between the UNGC, the secretariat of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and
UNEP. Caring for Climate, which helps companies to
implement and recommend climate change solutions and
policies, held a series of high-profile events and showcased
business commitment to furthering climate change action.
In 2015, Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke spoke at the Global
Compact +15: Business as a Force for Good event in New York
on ‘Climate Action and the Environment’, where he called for
coordinated action by governments, companies and NGOs to
address climate change and safeguard water resources.
During this historic plenary session in the UN General
Assembly Hall, business, government and civil society
gathered to celebrate the 15 th anniversary of the UNGC and
launch the report ‘Impact: Transforming Business, Changing
the World’. On that occasion, the UNGC was recognised for
having had a profound impact in driving corporate
sustainability. As part of the Global Compact +15 agenda, we
also took part in the Corporate Climate Leaders meeting in
which Nestlé, along with other members of the Carbon Pricing
Leadership Coalition, assessed the business case for carbon
pricing and the opportunities in implementing the Business
Leadership Criteria on Carbon Pricing, which is based on
pricing, advocacy and communication. In the run up to COP 21
in Paris, we submitted a case study for a report on Corporate
Adaptation Case Studies, showcasing our work with coffee
farmers in Colombia and Guatemala to increase community
resilience and adaptation capacities in case of extreme
weather events. We also joined a coalition of CEOs from 78
companies around the world that made an open pledge to
world leaders urging concrete climate action.
Women’s Empowerment Principles
In 2013, we signed up to the Women’s Empowerment
Principles, a set of seven steps for businesses to advance
gender equality and empower women to participate fully in
economic life in the workplace, marketplace and the
community. The principles are a partnership initiative between
the UNGC and UN Women. In 2015, Nestlé trained over
100 000 women in Asia and Africa on fundamental business
and entrepreneurial skills. In the farming communities, Nestlé
empowered 12 715 women with technical assistance, such
as best practices in dairy farming and food safety, and
provided cocoa and coffee farmers with high-yield and
disease-resistant plantlets.
Following the publication of the Fair Labor Association’s
assessment of our cocoa supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire in July
2014, we began strengthening our efforts to promote and
support the role that women play in our cocoa supply chain
through the Nestlé Cocoa Plan and the Rural Development
Framework. In January 2015, Nestlé published a progress
report on actions taken since August 2014 and outlined our
planned work on three main pillars: promoting equal
opportunities, giving women a voice and helping to increase
women’s income.
UNGC local networks
Nestlé engages at the country level with the local networks
the UNGC has established around the world. This allows us to
carry out activities based on local priorities and needs. In 2015,
20 of our markets were active members or collaborated with
specific working groups. Moreover, in China, Philippines and
the UK & Ireland, Nestlé is participating as a board member of
these local networks. In China, we have promoted the concept
of CSV among the network’s members. In Ghana, Nestlé has
provided expertise and assistance to the network’s meetings
and conferences on sustainability and a series of initiatives
showcased as local best practices. In its third edition of the
Growing Inclusive Markets series, the local network in
Indonesia mentioned Nestlé’s activities in the coffee sector as
one of the best examples of inclusive business in the country.
The book, also detailing how the company delivers tangible
social impacts and creates value for society, will be distributed
to key stakeholders in 2016. In Brazil, we are engaged with
working groups addressing SDGs, water and sanitation and
women’s empowerment. Moreover, we featured in ‘A study on
the best case practice by businesses on Climate Change
Adaptation and Mitigation’, which was released in Kenya. We
also partook in activities undertaken by different working
streams, including those on leadership awareness,
sustainability reporting, communication on progress and
anti-corruption. Nestlé UK & Ireland is currently participating in
the working group on the Modern Slavery Act. Nestlé Italy
remains an active member of its local UNGC network’s Supply
Chain Working Group. Nestlé S.A. is a board and programme
committee member of the Swiss network. In 2015, we were
actively involved in the relaunch of the network in partnership
with the Swiss Development Agency and worked towards
presenting a view from business for business on the SDGs.
We also shared our experience with other network members
on how to handle the UNGC Communication on Progress and
other CSR reporting schemes.
Nestlé in society – Creating Shared Value and meeting our commitments 2015 39