For all our sustainability information, visit our sustainability website.
OUR RESPONSIBILITY
Pepkor provides access, affordability, convenience and connectivity of essential
products and services to more than 30 million known South Africans that have the least disposable income. We recognise that our role in pursuing our purpose is crucial, not only as a business serving our customers’ needs today, but also as an enabler and leader of the future.
Serving a predominantly lower socio- economic measure (SEM) mass-market segment, we take our responsibility seriously, with a continuous focus on our social impact and operational efficiency. By managing costs throughout our value chain, we maintain affordable prices for customers while we try to optimise our utilisation of resources.
BUILDING BETTER BUSINESS
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Pepkor makes a positive difference in the lives of our customers, which enables affordable living and fosters inclusive growth that focuses on a sustainable future.
The value we create as a group is directly related to the value we provide to our stakeholders through our business activities and relationships. We acknowledge our responsibility within a broader ecosystem that includes our customers, employees, communities and resources.
THE WAY WE MANAGE SUSTAINABILITY
Our ‘Building Better Business’ framework serves as a decision-making support framework, guiding and facilitating the integration of sustainability into our decentralised operating businesses. This framework underpins our sustainability efforts, which are focused on creating and preserving social, economic and environmental value, with an emphasis on three key sustainability goals – enabling affordable living, inclusive growth and road to green.
We are building an integrated approach, wherein other business strategies, such as broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE), contribute to and align with the objectives of the ‘Building Better Business’ framework.
We also support the principles and best practices of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and view them as a cornerstone for future innovation and collaboration. We believe these principles will accelerate positive change within our sphere of influence and aid in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Under the leadership of the social and ethics committee (SEC), the group has embarked on a journey to enhance our environmental efforts and improve supplier visibility while we continue the commendable work of the group on social and governance matters. The JSE Sustainability Disclosure Guidance informed by best practice international sustainability standards like the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) recommendations and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Sustainability Disclosure Standards have provided additional guidance to the way we manage and report on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.
STRATEGY
Our sustainability strategy and initiatives revolve around three strategic goals within the ‘Building Better Business’ framework. In the 2023 financial year (FY23), we outlined a step-by-step plan to incorporate sustainability into our operating businesses. This involves a careful process of identifying and understanding sustainability-related risks and opportunities for the entire group. The next steps will include further integrating sustainability into our existing work plans, quantifying the effects of these risks and opportunities on our strategy where feasible, and developing a portfolio of profit-generating impact initiatives that focus on areas such as energy, packaging, waste and responsible sourcing. The result of this process will guide us in determining future targets, launching new projects and expanding existing initiatives with a positive net impact.
SMETRICS, TARGETS AND PERFORMANCE
Data accuracy and completeness continue to be a priority as it forms the basis upon which targets will be set. During the 2022 financial year (FY22), we established processes and systems to improve how we measure, monitor and manage sustainability data, impacts, risks and opportunities. This has helped to further enhance our data accuracy and completeness and to establish a carbon footprint baseline for the group. Through the improved data collection process we have started the target-setting journey in FY23. This process will enable the integration of relevant sustainability initiatives that form part of the group’s three-year plan process in the 2024 financial year (FY24) and inform target-setting going forward. The intention is to explore Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in a meaningful way during the three-year plan process with a view to implement the targets in a pragmatic manner.
ESG forms part of the responsibilities of the executive team of each operating business and is included as part of long-term incentives for divisional and group executives. In FY23, our disclosure and proactive engagement with major rating agencies received focus, leading to improved ESG ratings. We are also pleased to have made our first submission on our climate impact to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the results of which are expected to be released early in 2024.