A systematic management approach

G4-18, G4-19, G4-20, G4-21, G4-24

In 2014, Linde introduced a sustainability strategy and launched the implementation of the corresponding management system so that it would also be a pioneer in responsible corporate governance. By 2016, a comprehensive roll-out of sustainability organisation and programme will have taken place.

Sustainability targets Sustainability Strategy1

  • Continuous improvement in transparency and data quality
  • Definition of targets and key performance indicators for implementation and quantifying of sustainability

1 Operationalisation of the sustainability targets defined in 2014 can be found in chapter “Development of a sustainability strategy”.

Key challenges

The starting point for the development of the new sustainability strategy of Linde Material Handling was a materiality analysis carried out at the beginning of 2015 (see diagram). The materiality analysis covers core business activities and takes account of stakeholder expectations in order to help secure the future capability of the Company. 22 executive managers from across Europe and all business lines of the Company took part in this process. They also adopted the Sustainability Policy (see chapter “Sustainability policy”) at Linde within this framework.

The underlying systematic approach: A listing of twelve global challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity and human rights was used to identify those challenges that exert the biggest influence on the business activity and secondly, are most relevant regarding challenges in the view of the stakeholders. The challenges were assessed on a scale of zero (low) to ten (high). The areas with the highest values in relation to the two perspectives are those which are most relevant and that are focussed on by sustainability management. In concrete terms, these are the following for Linde Material Handling:

  • Climate Change and Resource Scarcity
  • Human Rights
  • Health and Demographic Change
  • Diversity and Equal Opportunities
  • Urbanisation

Key challenges for Linde Material Handling

Key challenges for Linde Material Handling (diagram)

12 challenges were evaluated on the basis of their relevance (0=low, 10=high) for stakeholders and for business activity. The size of the circles shows the assessed uncertainty of the topics (the bigger the circle, the more uncertain). The most relevant topics define the content framework for future sustainability management and reporting (see table below).

Sustainability targets and fields of action were then derived from these challenges and these are presented in chapter “Development of a sustainability strategy”. Together with the issue of human rights, they determine the selection of key content and GRI indicators in this report.

Material challenges and associated GRI aspects2

Challenges

Aspects

Climate Change

  • Emissions [i, o]
  • Energy [i, o]
  • Products and Services (en.) [i, o]
  • Supplier Environmental Assessment [o]

Human Rights

  • Supplier Assessment for Labor Practices [o]
  • Supplier Human Rights Assessment [o]
  • Assessment (Human Rights) [i, o]
  • Forced or Compulsory Labor [i, o]
  • Child Labor [i, o]
  • Investment [i, o]
  • Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining [i, o]
  • Diversity and Equal Opportunity [i]

Resource Scarcity

  • Effluents and Waste [i, o]
  • Water [i, o]
  • Materials [i, o]
  • Products and Services (en.) [i, o]
  • Supplier Environmental Assessment [o]
  • Compliance [i, o]

Demographic Change

  • Diversity and Equal Opportunity [i]
  • Occupational Health and Safety [i]
  • Training and Education [i]
  • Employment [i]

Health

  • Occupational Health and Safety ([i]
  • Customer Health and Safety [i, o]
  • Compliance [i, o]

Diversity and Equal Opportunity

  • Training and Education [i]
  • Diversity and Equal Opportunity [i]
  • Employment [i]

Urbanisation

  • Emissions [i, o]
  • Energy [i, o]
  • Products and Services (en.) [i, o]
  • Supplier Environmental Assessment [o]

2 Significant inside [i] or outside [o] of the organisation. More than one can be selected.