ESG reporting and disclosure have become an important indicator of a company’s DNA, how it operates and envisions its future. Increasingly, it is also becoming a key consideration behind decision-making by investors, banks, the financial community and customers.

Through ESG reporting, companies can demonstrate if sufficient care and consideration have been placed on ensuring overall sound management and governance of every operational aspect that could have an impact on its bottom line and the sustainability of its business model. By identifying and mitigating potential ESG risks, it reflects the level of awareness a company has of the extent of its impact on natural resources, its stakeholders, and shareholders.

For Wilmar, ESG reporting is not about ticking boxes. It is about making a meaningful difference to the way our businesses operate so that we create sustained value while continuing to grow. We strive to embed ESG principles across our businesses to create a tangible and practical plan that delivers effective solutions and results.

2021 marked the 10^th edition of Wilmar’s Sustainability Report, representing 15 years of sustainability disclosure since 2007.

Sustainability has been a continuous and ongoing journey for Wilmar. When we first started our sustainability reporting, the focus was on the operations of our oil palm plantations as this was where the most material ESG risks were. We worked to evaluate and improve every aspect, from the land on which oil palms were planted, the well-being of our workers, their families and the surrounding communities to the building of infrastructure in underdeveloped rural areas in Indonesia, Malaysia, Ghana and Nigeria where our oil palm plantations are located.

Today we are proud to have expanded our scope of ESG disclosures to cover the full breadth of our global businesses from trading, merchandising to product development.

We are encouraged that our efforts and achievements in this space have been reflected in our sustainability credentials. In 2021, Wilmar was included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices World Index, FTSE4Good Developed Index and the FTSE4Good ASEAN 5 Index. We also received an ‘A’ rating for ESG performance in the 2021 assessment by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), an international investment research firm, for long-term resilience to ESG risks by companies.

This edition of the Annual Report celebrates our ongoing efforts, achievements and is a renewal of our commitment to always strive for improvements in sustainability and ESG.

OUR APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY

As a global leading agrifood company with a presence across the value chain, Wilmar is in a strategic position to leverage our resources, knowledge and expertise to create positive impacts for our stakeholders. We remain steadfast in our commitment to provide responsible and sustainable food, animal feeds and agri-products that safeguard the well-being of both people and our planet. Our operations are centred on a foundation of sustainability that is built on four main pillars:

• Protecting our environment
• Looking after people and communities
• Delivering product excellence
• Transforming our supply chain

Our sustainability pillars set a clear direction for our business while guiding the development of our strategies to boost performance across all business segments. They also take into account our material ESG topics, which were updated in 2020.

Our No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation (NDPE) policy underpins our sustainability philosophy for our global operations and our supply chain. It is further strengthened by our other sustainability-related policies and frameworks covering environment, human and labour rights, health and safety, equal opportunities, women empowerment, child protection and food safety, all of which can be accessed on our Sustainability Dashboard.