Accountability
This year, for the first time, we are publishing the Sustainability Report in online format only. This online report and the printed summary are key elements of our public accountability and demonstrate our genuine commitment to transparency. They complement our Annual Report and our corporate website and the 27 local market Sustainable Reports.
We have compiled this Sustainability Report in line with the reporting guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative 3.1. We include a Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Reference Table and a brief summary of some of the ways in which we contribute to the Global Compact and as participant of the Global Compact sustainability leadership programme LEAD.
GRI conducted an Application Level Check and concluded that the report fulfils the requirement of Application Level B+.
GRI conducted an Application Level Check and concluded that the report fulfils the requirement of Application Level B+.
Reporting structure
The structure of this report reflects our ?Brewing a Better Future' approach, which is focused on the delivery of three strategic imperatives - to continuously IMPROVE the environmental impact of our brands and business, EMPOWER our employees and the communities in which we operate and create a positive IMPACT for the role of beer in society.
Two key initiatives support each imperative. Five key enablers support the delivery of the approach: Governance, Senior Management Incentives, Reporting and Transparency, Supplier Code and Communication & Engagement.
This online report dedicates one section to each of the three strategic imperatives, each brought to life via the use of a number of case studies. These represent only a small proportion of the positive changes we are helping to make. More examples of what we are doing can be found in the sustainability section of our corporate website.
Scope
The data included in this report, with some exceptions, refer to the consolidated interests of Heineken N.V., which we refer to as ?in scope' operations. A full list of operations in scope can be found in Appendix 4. Some international agricultural and resource management studies that we conducted in 2011 sometimes go beyond the geographic scope of HEINEKEN's consolidated assets in their coverage. If this is the case, the report will state as much.
This report therefore covers the operations of 142 production units, of which 109 are breweries, and 33 are mixed-purpose units such as cider plants, packaging plants, crate factories, can factories, can closure factories, malting plants and soft drink plants.
Assurance
We believe that the data and statements in this report should be externally assured. So we have asked KPMG to provide us with independent, limited assurance on both the facts and the wording in this report. KPMG summarises its activities and conclusions in Appendix 5. In addition, we have further improved and extended the scrutiny by our internal audit teams. This improves the quality and robustness of the data and gives a level of credibility and certainty for our Stakeholders.
Link: http://www.sustainabilityreport.heineken.com/downloads/index.html
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