United Nations Communication on Progress 2009 

• Read the message from CEO Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen here

Besides the Carlsberg Group, two of our Group companies are members of the UN Global Compact: Svyturys- Utenos Alus in Lithuania and Carlsberg Srbija in Serbia. They have done this to emphasize commitment to the ten principles at a local level. 

 As part of this commitment we have written a 'Communication on Progress' (COP) to offer our stakeholders an overview of the progress we have made in complying with the UN Global Compact principles. The COP summarizes key points from our work and provides the opportunity to find additional information through the GRI links and case stories.

United Nations Global Compact Communication on Progress

Principles

Summary

Relevant GRI Indicator 

Principle 1:
Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights

• We are strongly committed to high standards for a fair, respectable and safe workplace for all employees in the Carlsberg Group and in 2009 we introduced a new Labour and Human Rights Policy for the entire Group with the objective that all employees in the Carlsberg Group must benefit from the same standards irrespective of the country they work in. We support the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
  
  
• We conduct a bi-annual employee attitude survey to measure the satisfaction our employees and identify areas for improvement and in 2009, for the first time, we have gathered group-wide Labour and Human Rights data.
  
  
• The Carlsberg Group's  Supplier and Licensee Code of Conduct (SLCC) includes a section on human rights (See principle 2 for further information on the SLCC), which is part of our work to protect internationally proclaimed human rights.
  

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Principle 2:
Businesses should ensure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses

•  The Carlsberg Group seeks to avoid that any Group companies are complicit in any human rights abuses.
  
  
• We are working to ensure that our suppliers produce their goods in an ethically, environmentally and socially responsible way. Carlsberg has a large and complex supply chain and promoting responsibility within it is not an easy task. We have therefore set up a Responsible Supplier Management (RSM) programme as one of our CSR focus areas for 2008, 2009 and 2010 to tackle this challenge. In short, the RSM programme has two key priorities: improving our knowledge of our suppliers' CSR performance and including CSR considerations in our sourcing process.´
  
  
• Within the RSM programme the Supplier and Licensee Code of Conduct (SLCC) has been developed to further strengthen our commitment to operating as a responsible business to improve responsible business practices in our supply chain. It is included in all global supplier agreements with the aim of minimising the level of business risk within the supply chain, build closer relationships with our suppliers and safeguard future supply. It is currently available in English and simple Chinese.
  
  
• In addition to this we have joined Sedex (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange). Sedex is an online information exchange for
  businesses committed to continually improving the ethical performance of their supply chains. It focuses on four areas: labour standards, health & safety, environment and business integrity, all of which are in line with the areas covered in the Supplier and Licensee Code of Conduct. By using Sedex we share information with our colleagues regarding the performance of our supply chain, thereby enabling sharing of audit results across companies and industries, as well as reducing time and cost for our suppliers.

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Principle 3:
Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the rights to collective bargaining.

• In the Labour and Human Rights Policy Carlsberg Group's support to freedom of association and right to collective bargaining, including our employees’ rights to form, join or not join a labour union or other organisations of their choice, and to bargain collectively in support of their mutual interests without fear of punitive actions such as intimidation, harassment or termination of employment is clearly stated. This also means that in situations where no legally recognised union exists in the area of operations, or if only state-authorised organisations are allowed, the Carlsberg Group responds favourably to initiatives supporting the establishment of alternative means of achieving effective representation of workers’ interests.

• Our Group-wide performance data shows that 65% of our employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements. See more data on Labour & Human Rights here.

• The Supplier and Licensee Code of Conduct (SLCC) includes a section on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining (See principle 2 for further information on the SLCC)

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• In the Labour and Human Rights Policy it is clearly stated that forced labour in any form is not allowed in the Carlsberg Group, including bonded labour, indentured labour, slave labour, or human trafficking. Employees are allowed to move around freely and leave their place of work when their shift ends. Furthermore, Carlsberg Group companies will not ask workers to submit their original identity papers or any other original official documentation or to pay a deposit as part of their conditions of employment.
  
  
• The Supplier and Licensee Code of Conduct (SLCC) includes a section on forced labour, including bonded labour, indentured labour, slave labour, or human trafficking (See principle 2 for further information on the SLCC)

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Principle 5:
Businesses should uphold the effective abolition of child labour

• The Labour & Human Rights Policy underlines that the Carlsberg Group does not condone the hiring of child labour under any circumstances. The minimum age for full-time employment is 15 or the legal minimum age for employment, whichever is greater unless the local minimum working age is 14 and in accordance with the ILO exception for developing countries, where minimum working age is accepted under the previously mentioned conditions. The Carlsberg Group must not hire workers under the age of 18 for positions that require hazardous work that could
  jeopardise their health, safety or morals.
  
  
• The Supplier and Licensee Code of Conduct (SLCC) includes a section on child labour, which amongst other criteria, determines that suppliers must ensure that where permitted by national laws, suppliers may allow children aged 12 to 15 to perform a few hours of light work a day. The prerequisite is that the work must constitute simple tasks of a limited nature and not interfere with the children’s educational responsibilities. Furthermore, the work must not be harmful to their health or development. It is also stated that the suppliers shall refrain from hiring workers under the age of 18 for positions that require hazardous work that could jeopardise their health, safety or morals. (See principle 2 for further information on the SLCC).

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Principle 6:
Businesses should uphold the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation

• The Labour and Human Rights Policy reflects the Carlsberg Groups position on discrimination. This includes that no employees must experience any form of discrimination based on race, colour, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, caste, national or social origin, property, birth, union affiliation, sexual orientation, health status, age, disability, or other distinguishing characteristics.
  
  
• We have conducted an Employee Attitude Survey every two years since 2004. The survey is an essential link between management and employees and it gives every employee in every country the chance to voice his or her opinion on the work, the workplace, the company and Carlsberg Group as a whole.
  
  Relevant case stories:
  
  Aldaris - One of the most responsible employers
  
  Carlsberg Uzbekistan - Carlsberg Uzbekistan awarded "Most Desirable Employer" in 2009
  
  Baltika Breweries - Employees' health-company's confidence

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Environment 

• At Carlsberg Group we have a responsibility as a global brewer to continually look for ways to reduce our impact on the environment. Through the standards in our Environmental Policy, we aim to use natural resources more efficiently and minimise the negative impact of our operations.

• We share the widespread concern about climate change and believe that our responsibility goes beyond our production. We are committed to playing an active part in combating the effects of climate change by using energy as efficiently as possible and by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from our operations more effectively. We are committed to find and use environmentally friendly solutions upstream and downstream throughout our value chain and in 2008 we have mapped our carbon and water footprint in order to identify the main areas of impact where we can improve.

• Based on our carbon and water footprint, in 2009, we developed a new environmental strategy for the entire Carlsberg group to further improve our performance. Carlsberg's end-to-end carbon footprint is mainly driven by packaging (40%) and production (20%), whereas the water footprint is driven mainly by agriculture (raw materials) and production.

• Therefore, within our environmental strategy, we are focussing our efforts on three areas that are the most relevant to our business: Water, Energy and Emissions and Packaging. Our ambition within these areas is:
• To sustain our industry leader position and be the most efficient global brewer when it comes to our beer and soft drinks production’s performance for energy use and CO₂ emissions.
• To sustain our industry leader position and be the most efficient global brewer when it comes to our beer and soft drinks production performance for water, and to engage with local communities where we are located to understand how we can best support managing their water resources.
• To reduce packaging materials and promote re-use and recycling.

• In 2009, our total water consumption was 3.7 hectolitre of water per hectolitre of beer and soft drinks and our target for 2012 is 3.3 hectolitre of water per hectolitre of beer and soft drinks.
  
  
• Our average kg CO₂ emissions per hectolitre of beer and soft drinks production was 8.9 kg CO₂ /hl in 2009 and our target for 2012 is 8.5 kg CO₂ /hl. We aim to achieve this through a mix of energy efficiency initiatives and by shifting our fuel use to sources that emit fewer carbon emissions.
  
  
• In 2009, the Group's average was 32.2 kWh/hl and we are well under way to achieving our 2012 target to bring energy consumption below 30 kWh/hl.
  
  
  Relevant case stories:
  
  Baltika Breweries: Power engineering for the future
  
  Carlsberg Polska: One of the smallest wastewater plants in Europe

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Principle 8:
Businesses should undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility

• In 2009 we developed a new environmental strategy for the entire group, based on an assessment of our current performance on water use and greenhouse gas emissions throughout our value chain (water and CO₂ footprint).
  

• It is our ambition that all Carlsberg production sites are certified according to ISO 14001 standards, and that they develop their own annual plans for maintaining and constantly improving the environmental performance of their operations. Today, 44 out of the 74 reporting majority owned sites are certified and by 2012 we expect the remaining sites to have obtained the certification.
  
  During 2009 we initiated a number of projects to promote environmental responsibility.
  

• One project called “Lean Utilities”, launched across Western and Northern Europe. In these regions we are focussing on improving our utility performance on a continuous basis. We do this through an internal benchmark scheme where individual utility ratio targets are set by best in class performers, taking into account the specifics of each brewery plant in order to be realistic.
  

• In regards to water many of our companies are optimizing their 'Clean in Place' (CIP) processes such as Saku, Feldschlösschen Dresden, Szczecin and Kasztelan Breweries with good results. Carlsberg
  Denmark's focus on CIP-facilities has resulted in significant savings in water consumption in one month and they are now continuing their efforts to further reduce water consumption.
  

• Regarding packaging Carlsberg Danmark has been involved in testing the use of more recycled materials and minimising the weight in our pre-forms for PET bottles, minimizing the weight of cardboard used for cool-packs
  (10 piece fridge packaging) and baskets and lowering the height of the trays for canned products thus saving a large amount of cardboard.
  

• To further strengthen our commitment to the environment, in May 2009, we signed both the CEO water mandate and Caring for Climate initiative, both initiatives supported by the United Nations.

   

  Relevant case stories:
  

  
  Slavutich - Energy saving activities in Ukraine
  
  Baltika Breweries - Utilization of vapour in Russia

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Principle 9:
Businesses should encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies

• Our strategy is to find and use environmentally friendly solutions throughout our value chain and focus on those areas where we can have the most impact.
  
• We are constantly looking at each part of our business to identify new solutions and ways to reduce our environmental impact. These include sharing best practices and installing environmentally friendlier solutions at our sites, working together with our research centre to develop new brewing procedures to lower CO₂ emissions (read more about the work of our research centre here) and  we have committed ourself to introduce HFC-free coolers at stores and other points of sale whenever it is possible thorough our participation in Refrigerants Naturally which is a coalition between Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, McDonalds, Unilever and Carlsberg supported by Greenpeace and UNEP. Read more about this partnership, called Refrigerants, Naturally!
  
• For 2010 we are looking into new initiatives such as environmentally friendlier packaging for beer and soft drinks. One example is the UK where a 330 ml bottle was redesigned to include less packaging material, resulting in a reduction of glass used by 240 tonnes per year.
  
  Relevant case stories:
  
  Sinebrychoff - By-products as animal fodder

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Anti-Corruption

Principle 10:
Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery

• Many of our companies have worked with business ethics for many years. In 2009, 63 % of our local Group companies reported having taken various measures to address business ethics issues, including procedures for segregation of duties, policies and codes, internal audits and general management procedures. In 2009 these efforts resulted in more than 5500 employees being trained in local business ethics procedures through, for example, e-learning, presentations, workshops and induction training. The training has been developed and conducted locally, with different focus areas such as competition law or anti-fraud procedures.
  
  
• In 2009 we carried out an internal global survey to improve our understanding of business ethics issues across the Group in order to move towards a Group-wide approach. This Group-wide approach will include a Business Ethics Policy, Handbook and Guidelines, as well as global e-learning all of which are meant to supplement local training initiatives. These documents and initiatives are being developed to reflect our commitments to fair and transparent business conduct in our global operations. Our aim is that wherever we operate we will apply the Business Ethics Policy, which will be finalised in 2010.
  
  
• Group Internal Audit carries out a random review of policies and procedures for all essential activities, including topics related to anti-corruption, in order to ensure transparent and sustainable business practices are in place and working effectively.
  
  Relevant case stories:
  Slavutich - Integrating Business Ethics into sales academy
  
  Feldschlösschen - How to use a policy in day-to-day life?

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