KWH Group Sustainability Report 2023
Over the past year, global sustainability initiatives and increased regulatory requirements continued to shape the business environment. This represents a critical challenge for industrial actors such as the KWH Group, which must navigate and adapt to the emerging sustainability landscape that now defines the global economy. In the European arena, the regulatory requirements for companies are becoming clearer and some companies need to start reporting under the new rules of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Although the KWH Group is not yet subject to these new regulatory requirements, we are already preparing, which will also enhance our competitiveness.
To continue to manage the KWH Group’s long-term competitiveness, we have been working to implement our action plan, which was developed with the ESG strategy in previous years. In continuation of this, and to comply with CSRD, we will carry out a double materiality analysis in 2024, and thus be able to continue working on the areas that are material to the KWH Group.
Sustainability work
For us, working sustainably means including social, environmental and economic aspects in both decision-making at strategic level and in our day-to-day work. We believe that sustainable business development is a prerequisite for long-term value creation and for building future-proof companies.
In 2022, the KWH Group carried out a materiality analysis to identify the priority sustainability issues that laid the foundation for our ESG strategy and associated ESG handbook. The strategy describes our sustainability ambitions and provides a framework and a common direction for the Group’s long-term sustainability work. The handbook gives the business divisions practical guidance on how to implement the strategy and the proposed measures. It also provides information about current and upcoming regulations, laws and standards.
In 2024, the materiality analysis will be updated to meet future regulatory requirements and to continuously evaluate our sustainability work.
The KWH Group’s material sustainability aspects
The 2022 materiality analysis identified priority sustainability issues to which the Group should devote additional resources. To ensure that the sustainability aspects are in line with the expectations and requirements of KWH’s key stakeholders, stakeholder dialogues were held with owners, representatives of all business divisions, employees and financial advisers.
The KWH Group’s ESG strategy is based on our core values and is the result of the materiality analysis. To enhance the Group’s sustainability work, the business divisions set up coordination groups during the year to share experience and lessons learned in areas such as sustainability reporting, sustainable product development, communication and internal development. The project is an important part of the work to ensure active, structured sustainability work throughout the Group.
In 2023, we monitored the progress of the ESG strategy’s targets and KPIs by collecting a wide range of sustainability data from all business divisions. The work will continue in the coming years and data collection will be developed to create long-term value with the business groups and to meet future regulatory requirements via governance, KPIs and monitoring.
The cornerstones of the Group’s business model are deep commitment and an active presence in the business divisions to develop and build future-proof companies. We aim to be a responsible owner company with a long-term focus. The goal is to be a competitive industrial group that promotes sustainable business models.
Sustainability Governance
The KWH Group’s philosophy on long-term, sustainable value creation is based on owners and employees and their shared values. The Group CEO is ultimately responsible for sustainability work in the KWH Group and leads the Group’s development work. The business division CEOs, in turn, have ultimate responsibility for promoting sustainability issues in their respective business divisions and business units.
An internal policy framework sets the guidelines for the KWH Group’s actions as a responsible company. The framework includes a number of Group-specific policies adopted by the Group Board. The Code of Conduct for employees and for business partners set the guidelines for how the KWH Group should behave as a responsible company. In addition to Group-wide policies, the different business divisions also have business-specific policies according to their needs.