SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT 2021
About
Jardine Matheson (‘Jardines’ or the ‘Group’) is a diversified Asian-based group with a broad portfolio of market-leading businesses. We are confident in our long-term strategy rooted in the markets of Asia. We focussed on our core priorities of delivering operational excellence and pursuing new growth opportunities to deliver long-term value.
In our inaugural Sustainability Report, we share examples of the progress made throughout the year in building a solid foundation for delivering the Group’s sustainability strategy.
Leadership Message
Sustainability considerations have become integral to decisions about our daily operations – and our future growth.
Ben Keswick
Executive Chairman
John Witt
Group Managing Director
Creating Value
Leveraging the Group's scale, partnerships and expertise to make a positive contribution towards meeting the needs of an increasingly prosperous Asia.
We are excited about the prospect of transforming Asia’s sustainable development challenges into new investment, innovation, growth and talent-attraction opportunities for our businesses. Jardines’ business model comprises a broad portfolio of long-term assets and cash generating activities geared to meeting the needs of Asia’s growing middle class and urbanising population. We are focussed on supporting economic, environmental and social progress whilst avoiding or mitigating adverse impacts from our operations, products and services.
Jardines is in a unique position to achieve positive outcomes through the five core attributes which enable us to create value: a long-term strategic approach; enduring partnerships and co-operation; localised knowledge and relationships; financial strength; and being an engaged owner and operator. These attributes build on our heritage and regional network to maximise the benefits that arise from the complementary nature of Asia’s economies.
Jardines’ businesses share a strong sense of purpose and commitment to do the right things, combined with the pride, energy and enthusiasm of our more than 400,000 colleagues and their families. This is a powerful mix that enables us to contribute deep, long-lasting positive change across the communities where we operate.
Leading
Climate Action
JARDINES IS TAKING ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND LEADERSHIP ON CLIMATE RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT. THIS MEANS BUILDING RESILIENCE THROUGH ONGOING IDENTIFICATION AND MANAGEMENT OF CLIMATE-RELATED RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES.
Key considerations for Jardines’ climate action strategy
Net-zero will be a core strategy for regulators and leading businesses in our key markets and sectors
There is a rapidly narrowing window of opportunity to enable climate-resilient development
- Decarbonisation
- Climate-related Risks and Opportunities
During 2021, the Climate Action Working Group formulated a decarbonisation strategy that will align the Group as a whole towards the ultimate goal of net-zero.
This work continues in 2022, with the intention of communicating a clear position on the Group’s decarbonisation pathway and timeline in due course. In close consultation with our BUs, we are pursuing a segmented approach with an appropriate degree of flexibility to account for Jardines’ size and complexity. We have segmented our BUs into five categories under two pathways in order to prepare an outline for Jardines’ net-zero goal.
Zero Carbon Building constructed by Gammon
The Group has conducted a preliminary physical climate risk analysis to identify those risks likely to have material impact on the Group through physical damage and business disruption.
Preliminary analysis has found that the geographic regions with the highest physical climate risk exposure are Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Solar power panels at REE Corp, JC&C’s Other Strategic Interests
Driving Responsible
Consumption
We want to be part of a shift to more responsible growth that will not only sustain purposeful employment and nourish human health, but also conserve the environment and natural resources for future generations to enjoy.
Key considerations for Jardines’ responsible consumption strategy
China and Asia more broadly will continue to experience rapid economic growth and urbanisation, placing increasing demand on natural resources
Policy and regulatory frameworks present barriers as well as opportunities for innovation in the circular economy
Source: 2021 Operation Santa Claus
Resource Efficiency and Circularity
In the context of the Group’s sustainability strategy, responsible consumption focusses on reducing negative impacts and promoting positive impacts from the Group’s operations and value chain in three key areas: plastic, food and nature.
We aim to promote circularity to utilise the resources that would otherwise be disposed as waste. The Responsible Consumption Working Group has been established and is working to identify opportunities to leverage the Group’s scale for optimising the Group’s contribution to resource efficiency and circularity.
Shaping
Social Inclusion
At Jardines we are proud of our longstanding programmes for promoting wellbeing and social inclusion, with special emphasis on mental health. By working collaboratively to unite the Group behind our shared purpose, we believe we can make an even greater positive contribution in the communities we serve.
Key considerations for Jardines’ social inclusion strategy
Creating the change we want to see in the world
Building coalitions to improve mental health
Empowering our colleagues to make a difference
- Investing in Health
- Investing in Education
- Colleague Volunteering Programme (‘CVP’)
Our health agenda aims to improve the physical and mental health and wellbeing of our communities.
The Group has been involved in alleviating the impacts associated with mental illness in Asia through MINDSET, a registered charity founded by Jardine Matheson in Hong Kong in 2002. With operations in Hong Kong and Singapore, its mission is to challenge stigma around mental health issues through education and empowerment in collaboration with mental health organisations, advocacy groups, charities, corporations and other strategic partners.
MINDSET’s fundraising event, Walk Up Jardine House raises mental health awareness across Jardines and partners
The Group is committed to improving youth inclusion and supporting access to education across its markets in Asia.
Jardine Foundation was established in 1982 to enhance access to higher education for bright young people in our core markets. The Foundation provides full scholarships for students to undertake undergraduate or postgraduate studies at top universities in the United Kingdom.
In 2017, the Group launched the ACLEDA-Jardines Educational Foundation using proceeds from the sale of Jardines’ interest in ACLEDA Bank. The foundation supports learning opportunities for Cambodian children by building schools in remote areas.
The first school built by ACLEDA-Jardines Educational Foundation
Volunteering is an important and visible way for our colleagues to actively contribute to our communities under all three pillars of the Group’s sustainability strategy.
Our management approach builds on the Group’s well-established corporate culture of giving back to the communities we serve in order to further strengthen emotional engagement among our colleagues and other stakeholders.
In 2021, the Social Inclusion Working Group has focussed on creating a platform to enhance collaboration among the BUs through our new Group-wide CVP, which was officially launched in December.
Colleague Volunteering Programme with people-in-recovery from mental health
Caring for
Our Colleagues
Jardines’ competitive advantage is the strength and dedication of our workforce. We are committed to nurturing our people and empowering them with the support they need to navigate challenges and opportunities in a dynamic macro-environment.
- Health, Safety and Wellbeing
- Talent Management
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Jardines Learning Academy
Jardines’ Mental Wellness Month for colleagues
At Jardines, we have a long and distinguished history of looking after our people. In every geography and sector in which we operate, our businesses uphold health and safety standards and protocols.
Since 2019, our Group Human Resources team has led a programme of employee health and wellbeing initiatives known as “Key2Wellness” across all BUs in all geographies. Key2Wellness strives to optimise employees’ physical, mental, emotional and financial wellbeing by delivering a range of resources and activities, improving workplace facilities and cultivating our caring workplace culture.
Engaging colleagues in an innovation conference
At Jardines, we seek to grow our future leaders. The Group’s talent management practices ensure we are a meritocracy that supports personal and career growth. The diversified nature of our conglomerate enables talented individuals to explore career paths spanning multiple sectors and geographies.
The Group seeks to identify and closely manage talent with the capability to hold leadership or critical positions. Individuals who are nominated into our Strategic Talent Pools will be nurtured through a variety of talent management and development activities.
Jardines embraces diversity and inclusivity in the workplace
Jardines has a long history of delivering positive change across Asia. We employ individuals representing a wide variety of backgrounds, languages, cultures and experiences, as we seek, attract, retain and promote the best people from all communities in which we operate.
As an equal opportunity employer, Jardines does not discriminate on grounds of ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, background, religion or other personal characteristics. We are committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone can succeed.
Learn Fest ’21, the Group’s global learning week
Jardines Learning Academy (‘JLA’) is the Group’s learning and development function and ecosystem comprising structured company-led learning opportunities supported by digital learning libraries and enabled through common platforms such as the Group’s intranet, Connect.
Since 2019, we have introduced a new learning curriculum to meet the Group’s development needs for leadership and functional capabilities. Our approach is to work with best-in-class vendors in order to scale up digital and blended learning opportunities. Roll-out started two years ago and has evolved quickly during the global pandemic.
Group Sustainability Policies
We are in the process of codifying good practices into a coherent and comprehensive set of policies. Together these make explicit the Group’s high expectations for behaviour by employees of the Group and our operating companies as well as others with whom we work, such as suppliers and business partners, across a range of sustainability governance topics.