Our purpose to enable a heathier world includes our responsibilities across environmental, social and governance areas. Responsible business is both an ethical and a business imperative for Lonza. Our commitment to sustainability is underpinned by a culture of integrity and transparency, governing how we do business and how we interact with each other.
Our governance framework enables us to drive forward our sustainability agenda, ensuring strong alignment with our business strategy while maintaining active engagement with our external stakeholders.
While the Board of Directors (Board) acts as sponsor and overall owner of the ESG program, implementation is the responsibility of the Executive Committee (EC).
The Sustainability and Risk Committee (SRC), led by the Lonza Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, manages identified material topics and oversees sustainability reporting.
The SRC continues to drive our ESG agenda by working with the Board and EC on the SDG-aligned targets integrated into our compensation framework. The Board and the Nomination and Compensation Committee conduct an independent evaluation of the ESG program on an annual basis, with a direct impact on compensation.
Sustainability Governance Structure
Further details on corporate governance and the group structure can be found in the Annual Report and Sustainability Report.
We apply risk management processes at both a micro and macro level across our business – from the manufacturing floor of a single site, to the whole Lonza Group. We take a precautionary approach to risk management across our activities.
Our Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program provides a mechanism and appropriate governance for our risk management and strategic planning activities. It enables us to identify the most significant risks to our organization and stakeholders, and to develop mitigation plans to minimize the probability and/or impact of negative risks. The risk identification process includes a specific focus on ESG risks, in particular those related to climate change. Our comprehensive risk management program is an essential element of our corporate governance, and we are committed to continuously embedding risk management in our culture.
Risk Categories
We have identified six risk categories:
- Strategic risks
- Financial risks
- Corporate governance and reputation risks
- Political, legal and regulatory risks
- Products and services risks
- Operational and performance risks; operational risks include business interruption risks (e.g. natural catastrophes) and environmental risks
This identification process enabled the development of a Lonza-specific risk map. We have identified risks for each segment and for the corporate functions, and the risks are being tracked.
Environment, health and safety (EHS) risk assessments serve as valuable tools in our business and operating practices, and in our planning processes. We review new ventures, capital investments and other major projects not only for the business opportunities they present, but also for their EHS impact.
We are committed to operations and practices that prevent harm to people and damage to environment or property. The principles for environment, health, safety and sustainability (EHS&S), as well as security, result from the company's ethical conviction. These principles are a priority and apply throughout the whole company.
Our Policy
As set out in our Safety and Sustainability Policy, our commitment to environmental and social sustainability has five streams:
- Regulatory compliance and integrity
- Vision Zero
- Our people
- Our environment
- Value for society
We actively manage Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability (EHS&S) as an integral part of our businesses, operations and practices. We require global and local management to comply with the applicable laws and the internal and external EHS&S requirements. Security measures are integrated into the management systems and must meet defined minimal standards. Our Vision Zero – zero injuries, zero process incidents, and zero environmental incidents – underlines our commitment to safe and healthy workplaces.
Transparency and Reporting
We report environmental, social, governance and performance indicators under various frameworks. As part of our overall sustainability commitment, we foster transparency and reporting in line with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, which represent the We report environmental, social, governance and performance indicators under various frameworks. As part of our overall sustainability commitment, we foster transparency and reporting in line with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, which represent the industry practice for tracking performance on a range of economic, environmental and social indicators.
United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)
We joined the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) in March 2009.
EcoVadis
We maintain reporting on platforms, such as EcoVadis, to exchange sustainability data across the supply chain.