Sustainability governance
The board has ultimate oversight of sustainability-related issues pertinent to the business, including the process of sustainability integration into the group strategy, decision-making and governance practices.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues present both increasing challenges and opportunities within the South African retail and health services environment. The group’s response to these issues is informed by its values, behavioural code of conduct and its belief that companies have a significant role to play in addressing the social and environmental challenges of our time.
The social and ethics committee oversees the group-wide sustainability integration process and plays an active role in monitoring the group’s sustainability-related activities and disclosure in terms of legislation, regulation and codes of best practice.
The group acknowledges the importance of providing governance oversight over sustainability and climate change mandate and strategy.
The group has noted the increasing harmonisation of global ESG disclosure standards and this year has opted to align its disclosure with the JSE’s recently adopted Sustainability Disclosure Guidance. The JSE guidance draws on a wide range of recent global disclosure developments, including those of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The group believes this approach is well-placed to guide its sustainability disclosure efforts into the future.
Further standards or guidance frameworks with which the group aligns and continues to inform its disclosure include:
- King IV Report on Corporate Governance
- Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- United Nations Global Principles
- Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
The group is assessed and scored against ESG indices, including the FTSE Russell, S&P Dow Jones and MSCI. It has maintained its listing on the FTSE4Good Index since 2015.
The group in alignment with the JSE disclosure requirements has adopted a double materiality approach to sustainability. This seeks to integrate ESG-related issues pertinent to the creation and protection of enterprise value in its integrated annual report.
The group has published a stand-alone sustainability report since 2015. As part of the growing interest and investor expectations in relation to ESG disclosures, the group has supplemented its reporting suite with an ESG Data Book in 2022.
