ESG Framework

The impact of climate change and social inequality has become more and more evident, highlighting the need for common cause, understanding and purpose.

We recognise that people are the enabler of our business and a critical resource that needs to be empowered. As a Group that serves virtually all industry sectors, it is our responsibility to ensure that we contribute to the success of our host nations. We use the United Nation’s 17 SDGs, which provide a comprehensive definition of sustainability, as a guideline. We identified the SDGs that are most relevant to us: Good health and wellbeing; Gender equality; Decent work and economic growth; Industry, innovation and infrastructure; and Responsible consumption and production. Using these SDGs as guidelines, we are able to assess the impact we are making, through our basket of services and goods as well as our operations and corporate citizenship activities.

In FY2021, Bidvest established an ESG Framework which is a culmination of our sustainability ambitions, focused on the areas where we can make the biggest difference with specified targets and metrics. These medium-term targets were used to determine specific ESG performance hurdles in the incentive scorecards. The consistent, focused attention on six key metrics yielded great momentum and results during FY2022.

Looking ahead, there is more to be done. As one of the largest employers in SA where inequality and unemployment is widespread, we are contemplating an emphasis, through a greater weighting, on the social component, both from a people and broader socio-economic perspective, of sustainability in incentive scorecards from FY2024 onwards.