Having shared your understanding of the social and/or environmental issue, including what action is required to adhere to relevant limits, the next step is to link the issue to your business strategy by explaining why the issue matters to your company, and the impact your company is having on the issue.

Link this issue to the strategic impact it could have on your own business, including relevant risks and opportunities.

Here you need to demonstrate that you understand the strategic importance of this issue, including the risks and opportunities that it presents to your company's long-term strategy. Could it impact access to raw materials, or perhaps threaten operations within a specific region?

Example: "As a global food company, General Mills recognizes the risks that climate change presents to humanity, our environment and our livelihoods. Changes in climate not only affect global food security but also impact General Mills' raw material supply which, in turn, affects our ability to deliver quality, finished product to our consumers and ultimately, value to our shareholders." (General Mills)

Discuss your company's understanding of its relevant direct and indirect impacts.

Provide a concise description of your company's direct and indirect impacts and identify which activities generate the greatest impact or offer the greatest potential for influencing positive change.

Example: "We recognize that upstream agriculture emissions and our manufacturing are the largest sources of emissions in our value chain and will focus on efforts on achieving emissions reductions in these two areas." (Kellogg's)

Transparently outline how you determined both the direct impact of your own company's operations and the indirect impacts from your value chain and investments. If your company is still developing its understanding of its impacts then outline how you plan to gather the information you need.

Example: "Since 2009, Mars has published a GHG emissions inventory annually… We use public data sources, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's eGRID, the U.K. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs database, and ecoinvent, to supply the impact factors used in our calculations when available, and we apply them consistent with publicly available methods. We utilized these methodologies and data sources to calculate our 2015 total value chain emissions as 25.6 MtCO2-e. We will continue to invest in the collective development of better methods and data availability and work with our suppliers to apply a better understanding of their emissions to drive reductions." (Mars)