Managing our responsibilities
01.
in building sustainability to any one person,
department or office. Our achievements are shared
by all our employees and operating companies.
We have achieved a great deal over the past two
years: sometimes as a consequence of central
policy (for example, in reducing energy and water
consumption, implementing our alcohol policy,
the transposition of our code of business conduct
and whistle-blowing procedure): more often driven
by the conviction and efforts of local operating
companies' management and staff sharing the
efforts of Heineken in a responsible way and
responding to the expectations of the world around
us. Their conviction provides a guiding principle for
our central corporate responsibility agenda. At this
central level, we aim to address issues that present
a threat or opportunity to the Group as a whole.
We choose to leave local issues in the hands of
those best equipped to deal with them - our local
people - always, of course, with the active support
of our head office at Heineken N.V. as needed.
Secondly, the number of breweries still operating
above our global ambition of maximum seven
hectolitres water consumption per one hectolitre
of beer produced is an area where we will take
further action. And thirdly, our efforts in reducing
accident frequency and severity will be intensified,
as targets set for 2006 are likely not to be met.
Given the growing demand for non-financial
information from our stakeholders, we have
completed this Sustainability Report in time to allow
discussion of its content at our Annual General
Meeting in April 2006. We have also decided to
produce a full sustainability report every year from
now on. This will help us to create a more flexible
corporate responsibility agenda and to meet
stakeholders' demands in good time and greater
detail. We believe that the focus in this report
on Heineken's different roles (publicly owned
company, employer, producer, marketer, corporate
citizen) and on the concrete activities we undertake
in each of them, enhances accessibility.
I am also pleased by the recognition our sustainability
performance has received. We have maintained our
listing in the FTSE4Good Index and in 2005 were
included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI)
- in both the STOXX and the World Index. This
means that according to the annual benchmark
carried out by Sustainable Asset Management in
Zurich, whose research is at the basis of the DJSI,
Heineken is a sustainability leader in our sector.
I am also proud to tell you that our previous
Sustainability Report won the Dutch ACC Award.
Heineken is recognised as a company that takes
its responsibilities seriously, and with this in mind,
I wrote a letter to the Secretary General of the
United Nations in December 2005, expressing our
company's commitment to the UN Global Compact.
While we have achieved many successes, there are
also areas that require further improvement. First
of all, five colleagues lost their lives in work-related
accidents (including road accidents) during 2004.
In 2005 the number was six. This is of paramount
concern for Heineken and on behalf of the
Executive Board I would like to offer our sincere
condolences to the friends and relatives they have
left behind.
All these improvements in our reporting ultimately
serve a single goal: to give all stakeholders the
information they need to challenge, question,
support or partner with us.
We have achieved a lot over the past two years.
Looking forward, in 2006 we will continue to work
on our sustainability priorities - environmental
care, business conduct, alcohol policy and supply-
chain responsibilities. We will also be developing
a number of interesting new programmes on other
issues that add value to the business. As always,
you are invited to join us in our efforts.
Along with my colleagues, I look forward to your
valuable feedback and cooperation.
Amsterdam, 13 April 2006
Heineken N.V. - 2004/2005 Sustainability Report