building a better future - Cemex

advisory panel members
and statement
CEMEX 2011 sustainable development report
Sustainability Reporting Advisory Panel Statement
CEMEX is operating in an extremely difficult business
climate and in 2011 consolidated its activities to ensure it
remained competitive. These changes, many painful, have
placed increased pressure on securing resources to implement
its sustainability strategy. We are pleased to note the
continued commitment of CEMEX to sustainability and how
integral sustainability is to its business strategy, including
seeking leadership in sustainable construction. This report
is a testament to that strategic imperative and conveys an
important message to the market.
Scope of our review
We reviewed an advanced draft of the CEMEX 2011 Sustainable
Development Report. We shared with management our
detailed comments and specific suggestions for improvement.
We list here our general observations and concentrate
on those aspects that will further enhance the company’s
reporting in the future.
Completeness and clarity
We like the use of the seven priorities as a reporting structure
and are pleased to see its further development in the 2011
report. The report covers the important topics defined as
material by CEMEX and we find it largely complete when read
in conjunction with supporting material on the web. We have
some reservations and concerns, which we note below.
We encourage CEMEX to find ways to help the reader understand
HOW it is implementing its sustainability strategy
and to provide more evidence of the effects. The report still
contains too many general assertions and too little evidence
of performance.
Fair reflection
It is helpful that CEMEX has clearly outlined future challenges
in each priority area. However, the challenges faced during
2011, a year of extreme business pressure for CEMEX, are
not so well reported. We find that the report thus presents
an overly positive view. We ask for the reporting to deal with
the inevitable challenges in implementing the sustainability
strategy in difficult economic times. Such honesty is not only
good reporting practice and required by the Global Reporting
Initiative guidelines, but it makes the many successes of
CEMEX stand out.
Governance
We reiterate our previously noted concerns about how governance
is described. We would like to see greater clarity on the
risks faced and what is being done to manage those risks.
Human rights
As noted last year, reporting on human rights remains inadequate.
But we are pleased to read that CEMEX is reviewing
the implications of the UN’s Ruggie process, completed in
2011, and look forward to learn about the company’s actions
to promote human rights.
Safety
As noted by ourselves and the previous panel, safety remains
a major concern. The number of fatalities, especially among
contractors, is unacceptable. The Chairman confirms this in
his letter and we urge him to put the necessary resources,
beyond policies, in place to make the dramatic improvements
necessary.
Biodiversity
The report should note the future challenge posed by the
target of implementing biodiversity management at 100 key
sites by 2015, given that this indicator was static in 2011 (at 38
sites) while a new biodiversity action plan standard was being
developed. We reiterate the call we made last year for CEMEX
to move beyond the fairly vague commitments in the CEMEX
Position Statement on Biodiversity and develop a biodiversity
strategy with additional clear and quantifiable impact (not just
process) targets, based on an overall commitment to Net Positive
Impact on biodiversity across the company’s operations.
In future reports, it would be good to see case studies that
detail the results of the implementation of Biodiversity
Action Plans at priority operations, as this is where the real
challenge now lies for CEMEX’s biodiversity management.
Stakeholder engagement
We are pleased that CEMEX now provides detailed descriptions
of its engagement with stakeholders. In future, we would
like greater clarity on how CEMEX is turning itself into a buildings
solution provider, as opposed to a supplier of construction
materials, and how it is communicating this to the market.
Water
Water is becoming an increasingly important environmental
issue and we are pleased that CEMEX reports on its use
of water. We look forward to more information on how it
intends to improve its performance.
We have reached the end of our two-year period of engagement
and thank CEMEX for taking our views seriously. We wish
the company well in its endeavors and urge CEMEX to keep
making progress in its contribution to sustainable development.
< previous 54 next>