GERMANY. Gebr Heinemann has published its third progress report about the measures and initiatives it has put in place under the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), a worldwide initiative that guides organisations on responsible corporate governance. The company also set out its key sustainability goals to 2030 with a key ambition to generate more than half of its sales through sustainable products (see below).
The report covers the period from August 2020 to August 2021 and outlines how Heinemann has contributed to the ten principles of the UNGC. The company joined the Global Compact in 2018 and has interwoven UNGC principles on human rights, labour standards, the environment and corruption prevention with its own Code of Ethics.
“We see our UNGC reporting as an opportunity to regularly review, document and optimise the social and ecological consequences and interactions of our economic activities,” said Gebr Heinemann CEO Max Heinemann, representative of the fifth generation of family owners. “We are aware of our influence and our responsibility as a company. And therefore also of our role model function.”
Examples from the Gebr Heinemann progress report (reporting period August 2020 to August 2021):
- Human rights risk assessment of the Norway range of 64,000 articles: less than 1% of the products had to be classified as critical.
- Green energy for the logistics centres and the Hamburg headquarters significantly reduced CO2 emissions at the three locations.
- Promoting greater environmental responsibility: Environmental and human rights issues have become an integral part of the exchange between Gebr. Heinemann and its suppliers. In June 2021, the company launched the first phase of official supplier communication on the company’s Code of Ethics.
- Preventing corruption: With the introduction of the Code of Ethics, Gebr Heinemann implemented e-learning and guidelines on the topics of corruption prevention, fair competition and antitrust law, as well as data protection at its Hamburg headquarters in the first half of 2021.
Towards a sustainable travel retail business
By embedding the UNGC principles in its Code of Ethics and in its corporate strategy, Gebr Heinemann said it is contributing to the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
As a global duty free retailer, the family company promotes the following Sustainable Development Goals in particular:
- #8 Decent Work and Economic Growth,
- #12 Responsible Consumption and Production,
- #13 Climate Action and
- #17 Partnerships.
The company has set its own sustainable development goals and will develop ambitious measures to achieve them, it said.
“With our sustainable development goals, we become very concrete and demonstrate our commitment to more responsibility in travel retail to our company and our stakeholders,” Max Heinemann said. “We derive our focus topics from the areas where we have the strongest impact and thus the strongest leverage with our business model. To implement them, we will cooperate with all partners in our value chain.”
Gebr. Heinemann is committed to achieving the following sustainable development goals by 2030:
- To ensure a fair, safe and non-discriminatory working environment through global health and diversity standards.
- To generate more than half of sales through sustainable products and by working with responsible suppliers.
- To be carbon-neutral by avoiding CO2 emissions – primarily through the reduction of energy consumption.
- To implement preventive measures such as waste reduction, circular economy and recycling in every part of the value chain.
The full UN Global Compact Progress Report can be accessed at this link.