Materiality What's material matters

Approach to materiality

In 2013, we began a four-phase project to benchmark our current position, determine material issues, and develop a unified approach internally:

1. Research - We interviewed 40 key stakeholders, including development experts, researchers, and business leaders. We assessed sustainability performance, reviewed existing research, and developed an initial mapping of our material issues. We also utilised key data from our LCA process, our historical sustainability performance, customer research and interactions, and stakeholder input over the past three years to validate aspects identified.
2. Value Chain Impacts - For the first time we also focused on assessing our environmental impacts further to ensure that we are focusing in the right areas, regardless of our influence. We developed an LCA model to determine our water and carbon footprints from the fields to the end of use of our products. We also assessed our social impacts across our value chain through our SSC programs and in our human rights gap assessment. 
3. Exploration - We then evaluated the success of existing C&A sustainability programmes, reviewed major industry initiatives, and explored how the industry might look in 15 years, with a goal of determining where and how C&A could make a difference. Key initiatives like the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights provided additional context for consolidating and focusing the material issues for greater global impact. From this, we prioritised the aspects where C&A has a key role in creating positive change and also where these issues are priorities for our stakeholders.
4. Strategy - We developed an integrated strategy incorporating our material issues with three pillars for action: Sustainable Products, Sustainable Supply, and Sustainable Lives. 

Our material topics have generally remained the same since 2013, and are shown in our 2018 materiality assessment review.

2018 materiality assessment update

Since our initial materiality assessment in 2013, we have continued to review our material issues in the context of stakeholder input and importance to our business. In 2018, we again updated our materiality assessment and consulted four important categories of input:

1. Our corporate identity, including C&A values, vision, and mission
2. Consumer insights, including consumer trends and viewpoints (including our annual customer survey in concert with GlobeScan), market intelligence, and future trends
3. Sustainability trends, including industry intelligence, market intelligence, competitor analysis, stakeholder trends, and future trends
4. Our impacts, including key impact areas and future trends

Drawing from this input, we refreshed our materiality assessment to identify the top material issues — those deemed most important by our stakeholders and for our business. The results, as shown in the chart below, reflect this review and the ways in which the most material issues have been incorporated into our 2020 sustainability goals. Other material issues — such as quality, product safety, and responsible marketing — remain part of our ongoing business approach.