FOREWORD
TOWARDS SSTA INAB I L ITY
Heineken is an integral part of society. We try every
day to make a positive contribution to the lives of
those who come into contact with our company and
its products: employees, consumers, customers,
suppliers, shareholders and all other stakeholders.
At the same time, we make every effort to minimise
any negative effects of our operations. We realise
that we cannot do this alone, and we therefore seek
to maintain an active relationship with our stakehold
ers, both internal and external, at Executive Board
and head office level and within our various operat
ing companies. Working with our stakeholders, we
aim to identify the areas in which improvements
can be made and our responsibilities in those areas.
Openness, transparency and dialogue are essential
elements in that process.
This Sustainability Report, which serves as input to
that dialogue, presents the results which have been
achieved across our entire organisation and our
priorities regarding improvements in the period
ahead. Our first Environmental Report, which we
published four years ago, addressed the environmen
tal performance of our European operating compa
nies. This was followed two years later by our Safety,
Health Environment Report, which expanded the
coverage both geographically and thematically. Now,
with the publication of this Sustainability Report,
we have gone still further, dealing transparently with
and rendering account for our performance on all
social issues which are relevant to our operations.
The guidelines formulated by the Global Reporting
Initiative (GRI) for sustainability reporting have been
followed as closely as possible. To supplement this
report, we are also publishing a brochure entitled
'Living our Responsibility', which features practical
examples of how Heineken is discharging its obliga
tions in the context of the company as a whole.
While publication of this report is not intended to
imply that Heineken has achieved sustainability in
all respects, we affirm the strategic importance of
sustainability, in its many dimensions, in safeguarding
the continuity of our company. Because Heineken is a
learning organisation, this report should be seen not
as an account of the final outcome of our sustainabili
ty policy, but as a progress report showing the direc
tion in which we are moving. Our journey towards
sustainability is a voyage of discovery which, though
it sometimes confronts us with difficult choices, we
regard as useful and necessary.
This report presents the results of the policies we
have implemented and the status of issues on which
policy has not yet been defined. With regard to eco
nomic sustainability, I am encouraged by the financial
results we have achieved despite the global econom
ic climate and the dollar crisis, the vigour with which
Heineken has implemented the recommendations
of the Dutch Corporate Governance Committee,
the successful placing of a large bond loan and the
successful acquisition and integration of several
breweries, most notably Brau-Beteiligungs A.G.
(BBAG) in Austria.
As for our environmental performance, we have
been successful in broadening our expertise in the
use of water and the various energy sources, the
recycling of co-products and the measurement of
indirect C02 emissions. The results can be found
elsewhere in this report. The dialogue prompted by
responses to our previous environmental report
relating to climate change and damage to the ozone
layer has highlighted new viewpoints which we are
taking into account in formulating policy. Overall
environmental performance, with the exception of
electricity consumption by our maltings, is better.
Following on from our successful Aware of Water
programme, the Aware of Energy campaign is going
well and the initial results are in line with our targets.
Lastly, the reliability of our reporting has improved,
partly thanks to tighter internal audit and external
verification standards.
We can also report good results at the social level,
as well as identify areas where further improvement
is required. A positive development has been the
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