Our client is one of the major players in rail logistics in the world. The Group has adopted new goals, including offering safer, more cost-effective, and lower impact solutions. This has been achieved through a clearer commitment, which is to be operationalized through the definition of an ambitious CSR strategy and the implementation of a roadmap aligned with the various expectations of the sector.
the challenge
With operations around the world, the Group offers local expertise to a world of customers in industries as diverse as steel, energy, chemicals, construction, mining, food, cosmetics, and logistics and transportation.
Our client wanted to capitalize on its steps taken since 2019 around its exposure to climate issues and decarbonization trajectories to develop a more ambitious strategy considering the “S” and “G” issues of “ESG”.
Ksapa has assisted the Group in prioritizing its CSR challenges through a materiality analysis by taking into account the expectations of its internal and external stakeholders.
OUR APPROACH
The materiality analysis is a methodological approach designed to identify and prioritize a certain number of CSR issues that a company must face.
Ksapa accompanied the client in :
- The identification of its CSR challenges, through a competitive benchmark of the transport and goods sector. It was compared with the GRESB and GRI reporting standards, adapted to the sector and for which investors expect an aligned reporting
- Raising awareness of the materiality exercise among internal and external stakeholders through the development of a lexicon and an e-learning tool available in several languages (English, French, German and Dutch) and deployed to more than 1500+ stakeholders
- The launch of a global questionnaire, adapted to the company’s contexts (online and offline, multilingual, series of interviews…)
- The collection and analysis of data from the 1500+ respondentS
This first materiality exercise had a threefold impact:
- Raising awareness among stakeholders of the Group’s ambition and its desire to become a benchmark player in the market in terms of ESG best practices
- Enabling the Group to prioritize the list of approximately 40 CSR issues based on the data and to have a clear vision of the Group’s priorities in the short, medium and long term
- Ensuring that the Group meets the expectations of its investors by defining a strategy aligned with the standards requested in a logic of continuous improvement
RESULTS & NEXT STEPS
This first materiality campaign has enabled the company to identify ten or so CSR issues on which it is expected by both its internal stakeholders (employees) and its external stakeholders (experts, investors, partners, associations, etc.).
It has enabled an initial transfer of skills and tools to the client team, which will be able to update this analysis within three years.
The materiality exercise also strengthens our client’s external communication through a more complete extra-financial report for 2023 and internally with the implementation of a communication plan focused on the company’s value creation.
