In this section, you will be distinguishing between the limit for action and your company's "allocation" or "share" of the responsibility to respond. You will also address how you will approach the impacts that are within your sphere of control and how you will support or influence others in your value chain, in your industry, and/or in the companies in which you invest.
Cleary state your commitment to 'doing your part' by working within relevant limits. Be clear on both your starting point and your desired endpoint, and the timeframe it will take to get there. Explain your approach to determining your responsibility and be explicit about your rationale and key assumptions. Outline what portion of the gap your company will tackle through changes within its own operations, discuss how this commitment will shape your strategy going forward, and acknowledge where you will need to collaborate with others in order to achieve this.
Example: "While we have long history of reclaiming lands after mining, we know that further progress can be made. That's why, in 2011, we established a long-term vision of achieving a net positive impact on biodiversity in areas affected by our activities. For Teck, Net Positive Impact (NPI) means that ecosystems and biodiversity are better off at the end of mining than when we found them. Working towards NPI happens throughout the mining life cycle, and it starts with determining the key elements and pre-mining baseline." (Teck, website)
Example: "Danone will set a trajectory to reduce GHG emissions consistent with the 2°C scenario and contribute to establish a decarbonized economy. We want to target zero net emissions in Danone's related full scope of carbon emissions in the long term." (Danone)
Articulate clear commitments to leverage your influence to help others operate within social or environmental limits and discuss how this commitment will shape your strategy going forward. These commitments should align with your understanding of the issue and your company's potential for influencing its value chain and investments.
Example: "Mars' climate change targets are to reduce our total GHG emissions from our full value chain by 27% by 2025 and by 67% by 2050, from 2015 levels." (Mars)
Example: "Mars' water stewardship goal is to ensure water use in our value chain is within annually renewable levels by watershed. We chose this target because it is context-based, and so focuses on playing our part in solving water availability issues in the watersheds we operate in or source from… Over time, we will cascade our water targets to our suppliers. We will encourage them to be transparent about their water impacts, such as through the CDP water disclosure, and to participate in water stewardship initiatives and collaboration platforms." (Mars)
For the vast majority of position statements that we reviewed, there was no indication of who signed off on the statement or when the statement came into effect. Be explicit about whether your position statement has received the endorsement of management and/or the Board and include the date of sign-off.
Also identify the parties responsible for overseeing any commitments made in the statement as well as any expectations around reporting and/or links to compensation. Finally, commit to a transparent cycle of review and include a timeline for the next review of this statement.
Example: "An annual review of progress on the commitments made in this policy will be presented to the Enbridge Executive Leadership Team and Board and publicly disclosed in the company's Annual CSR report." (Enbridge)
Finally, you can signal your organization's commitment by providing examples of prior decisions that help to convey a pattern of acknowledging the issue and acting to do your part in addressing it.
Example: "From 2005 - 2014, we have already delivered Scope 1 and 2 absolute emissions reductions from manufacturing of approximately 12%, which aligns to the science-based sector targets outlined in the 3% Solution proposed by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and CDP… [and] In August 2014, we renewed our commitment to reducing our manufacturing GHG emissions by an additional 15 percent (per metric tonne of food produced) by 2020 from our 2015 performance." (Kellogg's)