This article was first published on World Earth Day, 10 February 2022.
The article was updated on 9 August 2023, to reflect data as published in our 2022 annual report.
ESG lies at the core of what we do at Fagron
ESG is short for Environmental, Social, and Governance. We like to use the term ESG because it clearly shows that we care about the environment, people, and doing business responsibly!
The start of our ESG journey
We started our ESG journey in 2020 by speaking with our customers, employees, and shareholders to understand what they care about. We also looked at (upcoming) changes in legislation, requirements of debt providers, and the topics that ESG rating organizations and financial market participants find important.
Basis of this exercise, we identified a list of ESG topics that we divided in five categories:
- Low impact on the Environment
- Benefits to Our People
- Responsibility in the Supply Chain
- Giving Back
- Good Governance
Because we care and want to make an impact, we identified 16 topics that we think are most important for the success of our business until 2025.
For each of the 16 topics, we answer three questions:
- Why do we find this topic important?
- What goal do we want to achieve, and when?
- How do we reach the goal?
We will give you one example. For climate change, we adhere to the goals of the Paris agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C. We have submitted science-based emission reduction targets and are waiting to hear from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) on their validation. As part of our submitted targets to the SBTi, we have submitted greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions in line with the SBTi’s criteria for validation in December 2022.
To reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in scope 1 and 2, we are focusing on the following: (1) energy efficiency, (2) renewable energy, (3) electrifying our car park, and (4) reducing flights.
We published our first ESG Strategy at the beginning of 2021. In this strategy, we answered the three questions for all ESG topics that we selected. We update our ESG strategy regularly. You can find our most recent ESG strategy here.
What we do to reach our goals and keep our goals relevant
For every topic, there is a lot of work to be done! At Fagron, we work closely together and put in time and effort to reach our goals. For example, for the topics in the category “Benefits to Our People,” our ESG department works with the HR department and all the local Fagron companies.
As an example, we:
- Installed solar panels in multiple locations globally.
- Research ways to increase waste recycling at our facilities.
- Promote that our employees discuss their career development during yearly performance and development discussions with their manager.
- Developed a Business Partner Code of Conduct that our suppliers must comply with in order to to do business with us.
- Trained confidential counselors at multiple locations with whom Fagron employees can discuss any grievances concerning any of the topics described in Fagron’s Code of Business Conduct or potential violations of applicable laws and regulations.
- Organized the first Fagron Foundation Month during which various Fagron companies committed to contribute to a common charity.
Because the world changes fast, we assess the list of our ESG topics every two years to see if any topic has become more important to us, our customers, employees, and shareholders. Every year we also evaluate if we want to update our goals or add new goals.
Solar panels installed on one of the two Fagron Services locations in Brazil (Anápolis).Follow our ESG journey
We are working non-stop to realize our targets and want to be transparent about our results and activities. Annual progress can be followed in our most recent annual report. We also report on progress during the year in the news segment on our website and on LinkedIn.
If you have any questions or suggestions on what we could do to improve, you can reach us at ESG@fagron.com.
