SABMiller calls for greater environmental and social disclosure

Posted by Josette Dunn on 14th July 2010

SABMiller, one of the world’s leading brewers, is calling on the brewing industry to improve disclosure on environmental and social impacts.The company is taking a lead by publishing detailed information about the impacts of its own operations around the world, in an online format which allows for greater insight and scrutiny into the country-level performance of its businesses.

In just a few clicks, any visitor to www.sabmiller.com can see which businesses are performing well but also where improvement is needed across SABMiller’s ten sustainable development priorities; from improving water efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, through to discouraging irresponsible drinking and contributing to the reduction of HIV/Aids.

Andy Wales, SABMiller’s global head of sustainable development says: “Transparency underpins our approach to sustainable development and our wider business activity. We cannot simply celebrate the success stories; we also need to be honest about areas of weakness. This interactive tool lets consumers, employees, partners and communities see how we are doing in those areas which matter most to them.”

SABMiller has developed the Sustainability Assessment Matrix (SAM) to monitor progress against each of its ten sustainable development priorities. To achieve each performance level, a business must meet a series of assessment criteria which includes both quantitative and qualitative measurements.