1.1 Reporting principles
Long-term value creation requires companies to steer both on the financial and non-financial aspects of business. Certain non-financial aspects contribute directly or indirectly to financial performance, and often have a greater impact over the medium to long term. At PostNL, we believe that an integrated approach towards performance management is key to ensuring the company creates stakeholder value in the long run.
EU directive on non-financial information and diversity
As a large listed company in the Netherlands, PostNL has to comply with the EU directive on non-financial and diversity information (2014/95/EU). PostNL is required to report about non-financial information in relation to environmental, social and personnel matters, in respect of human rights and combatting bribery and corruption. The mandatory disclosures include:
- Policies and results thereof
- Main risks and how these are managed
- Performance indicators, to the extent that these elements exist within PostNL.
As of 2024, this directive will be replaced by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The EU has developed European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) setting out the detailed disclosure requirements under the CSRD, and since the end of 2022, PostNL has been preparing for the implementation of the CSRD. We have conducted our first materiality assessment based on the principles of the CSRD, including the concept of double materiality, and in 2023 made important progress in becoming CRSD compliant for the reporting year 2024. The main steps we took in 2023 include:
- Working on bottom-up assessment of impacts, risks and opportunities at subtopic and sub-subtopic levels of ESG topics;
- Carrying out a technical gap assessment between the disclosures in the PostNL Annual Report 2022 and the disclosure requirements of the ESRS, based on the preliminary material ESRS topics identified;
- Setting up a CSRD governance structure including a CSRD programme, involving all relevant levels of management and topic specialists within the company;
- Capacity building within the organisation through knowledge sharing, creating awareness and initiating collaborations;
- Identification of and follow-up on elements that require interpretation clarification due to complexity or unclear requirements;
- Prioritising gaps and preparing to close those gaps identified.
Integrated reporting as guidance
The Integrated Reporting framework of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) provides guidance on how companies should communicate about value creation. PostNL used the guiding principles and main content elements of the framework as a basis for this Annual Report. PostNL aims to further develop its corporate reporting communication on long-term value creation.
Sustainability Reporting Standards referenced
PostNL has reported the non-financial information included in this GRI content index for the period 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability standards. The GRI standards provide relevant and clear requirements for sustainability reporting on economic, social and environmental aspects, while allowing for company-specific aspects to be reported. PostNL decided to report with reference to the Sustainability Reporting Standards due to the preparations it is making towards reporting based on the CSRD from the reporting year 2024. By reporting with reference to the renewed standards, the reporting scope of PostNL is similar to prior years.
In addition to the GRI requirements, we reference supplemental reporting criteria specific to PostNL for reporting elements which are not covered by GRI. This includes specific reporting definitions as presented in the Appendix 'Glossary and definitions'.
Aligning with Taskforce on Climate related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
PostNL recognises that climate change events can have an impact on our company and business. For many years, PostNL has included the reduction of GHG emissions in its strategy, and since 2018 we have externally disclosed the alignment of our climate action approach to TCFD. Throughout this report, we have addressed all four TCFD reporting recommendation elements to a relatively high level. In 2023, we published a TCFD report in which we disclose in more detail the relevant aspects of the TCFD recommendations in the context of our operations and value chain. The report can be found here.
PostNL TCFD reporting recommendation
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Greenhouse Gas Protocol
PostNL uses the reporting criteria as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol to report its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The production of direct and indirect CO2 emissions represents the main GHG of PostNL. We also take other GHG emissions into account, such as CH4 and N2O, and report our climate change impact in CO2 equivalents.
Commitment to UN Global Compact
As a UN Global Compact signatory since 2012, PostNL reports annually through an online submission the progress we are making to implement the ten UN Global Compact principles. These are related to human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. The Appendix 'UN Global Compact reference table' provides an overview of the ten principles, and references the descriptions of progress made on those principles, in this Annual Report.
OECD guidelines
In relation to our international activities, we endorse the guidelines for multinational enterprises on responsible business conduct published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These non-binding guidelines provide recommendations in a global context consistent with internationally recognised standards and laws.
Contributing to the SDGs
The Sustainable Development Goals are a call to action by the United Nations (UN) to make progress on 17 global challenges in relation to peace and prosperity for people and planet. While the goals are agreed at government level, the call to action also applies to businesses. The SDGs are interrelated and relevant for PostNL, as we have an impact on all 17, both through our own operations and/or indirectly through our value chain. We take action on all SDGs, and apply a focused approach at group level. This helps us improve the contribution on those SDGs closest to the business activities of our company.
Based on SDG impact analysis and dialogue with our stakeholders, we identified and focus on four main SDGs. We connected our contribution to these SDGs with the long-term value creation process as described in our value creation model. The most direct impact of our business operations related to SDG8 and SDG13. On SDG9 and SDG12 we look beyond our own operations and proactively engage with partners in our value chain to make progress.
We distinguish our impact between doing good (improving our positive impact) and avoiding harm (mitigating negative impact). For each SDG, we mapped the relevant PostNL topics to the related SDG sub goals to provide insight into where our contribution to the SDGs is to do good and where to avoid harm. The SDGs and sub goals (or sub targets as defined by the UN) are described qualitatively. We link the SDGs to our strategy through our key material topics and other relevant topics from our Materiality matrix. We defined performance indicators on all our key material topics.
SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
PostNL goal
Provide decent working conditions for our people, contribute to e-commerce growth, grow profitably and maintain an accessible, reliable and affordable postal service.
Our approach
We provide direct and indirect employment to more than 50,000 people. The health, safety and well-being of people working with and for us is our first priority (SDG 8.8). Our efforts in safeguarding road safety contributes to good health and well-being (SDG 3.6).
Safety also includes psychological safety, which is why we focus on diversity and inclusion in our human resources policy. This is linked to reducing inequalities (SDG 10.2). We want to be a good employer with favourable working practices. This also includes fair compensation (SDG 8.5), helping our people to develop themselves (contributing to quality education (SDG 4.3 and 4.5) and gender equality (SDG 5.5).
Our strategy is based on continuous growth. As a logistics and postal service provider, we contribute to economic growth in both the regions and value chains in which we operate (SDG 8.1). Alongside this growth, we want to remain relevant by becoming more effective across our business and accelerate digitalisation to support this. We also want to transform through innovation (linked to SDG 9.5) towards greater integration in the ecosystems we are part of (SDG 8.2).
SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
PostNL goal
We need to provide accessible, reliable postal services in the Netherlands as the dedicated postal operator. At the same time, we are continually developing our parcels network to capture growth effectively. We want to maintain and strengthen our state-of-the-art networks, which requires innovation and collaboration with business partners to develop the right infrastructure.
Our approach
We continue to invest in our network infrastructure, digitalisation and sustainability to further improve our core logistics (SDG 9.4). At the same time, we drive innovation through digitalisation to become a logistics market player more integrated with the ecosystems we are part of. Collaborating with our value chain partners on innovation is crucial for our long-term success (SDG 9.5). Improving our services and processes through re-designs based on customer journeys is one example. Developing new ways of working based on technology is another, which can be seen in our small parcel sorting centre. This sorting centre is using technology through robotisation to develop new processes that benefit PostNL and our customers. We are dependent on technological developments and other business partners to design and implement new ways of working, such as the transition to an electric fleet. For example, using solar panels as an energy source for our sorting centres is one area in which innovation and infrastructure helps us make a positive impact on affordable and clean energy (linked to SDG 7.2). And our switch to using electric vehicles in city centres, such as light electric freight vehicles (LEFVs), is helping us lower emissions while minimising traffic nuisance to improve accessibility (linked to SDG 11.2).
SDG 12: Responsible production and consumption
PostNL goal
We want to reduce our ecological footprint by changing the way goods and resources are produced and consumed in collaboration with others within our value chain.
Our approach
We engage with partners in our value chain to promote more sustainable alternatives, such as smaller, more sustainable packaging. This includes using natural resources more efficiently, and minimising pollution/waste to air, land and water, which relates to environmental aspects (linked to SDG 11.6) and health and well-being of people (linked to SDG 3.9). At the same time, we are becoming ever-more transparent about our direct and indirect environmental impact, and take actions to make our procurement practices compliant with legal requirements and our own policy. Waste management forms part of our certified environmental management system and is bound to (local) regulations. As well as reducing or treating our own waste in the best ways possible, we also engage with suppliers and customers on this topic, such as in relation to sustainable packaging. Our purchasing department aims to add two purchased goods per year that are made of circular resources. And in a bid to move closer to a circular economy, we are working with a number of e-tailers to collect and recycle e-waste.
SDG 13: Climate action
PostNL goal
Improve our impact on climate change by implementing measures to reduce our GHG emissions across all of our operations.
Our approach
We designed our emission-reduction targets to contribute to limiting global warming in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change. These targets are set to reduce direct and indirect GHG emissions from our own operations and outsourced activities (SDG13.2). Beyond our own climate action, we want to stimulate our logistics partners to decarbonise their activities for us by raising awareness and promoting active engagement. We have established long-term Science-Based Targets (SBT), approved by the SBT Initiative, to reduce our environmental footprint and drive sustainable growth of the business. Climate change impact goes beyond sustainable logistics at PostNL. With our targets and experience, we are actively engaged with our value chain partners on both climate change mitigation and adaptation through dialogues and partnerships at different levels (SDG 17.6).