Philips We’ve been combining our financial and sustainability reporting for some time now. For us, sustainability is not just a reputational risk management issue – we see it as a business opportunity, built on the basics of our global business principles meant to ensure that all our activities are underpinned by our ethical commitments. It’s fair to say that sustainability is deeply embedded in our company strategy and culture. Traditionally our financial and sustainability reports were separate. In 2008 we decided to bring them together – firstly because we considered sustainability and business processes to be interlinked, so integrating them in a report made perfect sense. We also thought that the title ‘Financial, Social and Environmental Report’ would carry more clout than a standalone document, serving as a company business card for a multi- stakeholder audience. And finally we saw that combining our reporting activities would be more cost-efficient. Our first year of integrated reporting, however, was by no means straightforward. Due to our dual listing we needed to meet many different sets of criteria. Bringing separate teams together was also a challenge. But over time we’ve resolved these issues and smoothed out our internal processes. Employees exchange information and collaborate well, united now in their shared reporting tasks. It’s certainly been worth the effort. Our integrated Annual Report now serves as a key vehicle for stakeholder communication, reaching investors, employees and other interested parties such as non governmental organisations. Internally, the reports help to raise awareness of sustainability issues and our approach to corporate responsibility. Externally, the link between financials and non-financials generates real interest and momentum. It shows that sustainability is at the heart of our business, and reinforces our reputation as a progressive modern company. Novozymes at novozymes, we integrate sustainability into our everyday business activities. it is how we do business and part of who we are, because we truly believe that this is the right way to do business. Practically, it means that our sustainability strategy and targets are integrated with the business strategy and take stakeholders’ concerns into consideration. Our commitment to integrated reporting simply reflects our commitment to sustainability integration. It really makes sense. When we started doing integrated financial and sustainability reporting in 2002, the main focus was on sustainability risk and cost management. However, over the years, our focus has indeed broadened to also include and even create business opportunities for Novozymes, which is naturally reflected in our reporting too. THE NOVOZYMES REPORT 2010 www.blacksunplc.com © Black Sun Plc 2011 59
