Sustainability governance structure

The company’s top management, including the Board of Directors and Group Management, deals with issues related to sustainability, reflecting the significance of sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities to the company. In 2023, the Sustainability Committee of the Board consisted of three Board members. Dieter Weisskopf, who retired as CEO of Lindt & Sprüngli in 2022, is Chair of the Committee and brings additional sustainability expertise to the Committee and the Board. In his former role as CFO, he initiated and oversaw the establishment of the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program for the responsible sourcing of cocoa, and was the executive responsible for overseeing corporate sustainability. Under his leadership as CEO, the Sustainability Plan was established, and sustainability was further integrated into our business strategy.

Sustainability Committee of the Board

The Sustainability Committee of the Board guides the Board in setting the strategic direction and sustainability targets for company activities, as well as in aligning financial interests, business strengths, and social and environmental interests. This includes overseeing our material and salient social and environmental impacts, including, but not limited to, climate change, business integrity, human rights, responsible sourcing, and employee matters such as inclusion and wellbeing. The Committee regularly discusses the effect of such issues on financial performance and on the ability of the company’s long-term strategy to create shared value, also with regard to the interests of key stakeholders. In turn, it guides the integration of sustainability into company strategy and recommends material sustainability objectives for approval by the Board.

Three regularly convened meetings took place in 2023. These were attended by all Committee members, as well as by the CEO, CFO, and by the majority of the members of the Board of Directors (see Sustainability Committee section in Corporate Governance Report). One meeting was attended by the Head of Group Sustainability, and one by the Head of Group Environmental Health & Safety to discuss climate change. Matters discussed included a review of 2022 sustainability activities and the outlook against the Sustainability Plan, approval of the new Double Materiality Assessment (DMA), approval of the new Deforestation Policy, a review of climate change and a review of the company’s human rights risk assessment, together with the effectiveness of its due diligence process in the reporting year. The Group Compliance Policy was approved by the full Board of Directors.

Further, the Compensation & Nomination Committee and the Audit Committee of the Board govern, guide and approve different elements of sustainability, such as non-financial reports and assurance and integration of sustainability into executive compensation. For further information, see our Committee Charters.

Group Management

Group Management, represented by the CFO, is responsible for the implementation of the Board’s strategic sustainability decisions, for example the Roadmap to net-zero in line with the approved science-based climate targets. The CFO oversees and guides the management of our material sustainability matters, strategies, and targets. The CFO approves all major disclosures, participates in the review and approval of updates to the Sustainability Plan (within Board approvals), and presents all official sustainability policies and reporting for approval by the Sustainability Committee and/or the Board. The CFO also chairs the Executive Sustainability Committee (ESC), which is composed of the Group General Counsel as well as the Group Management member responsible for Operations. On behalf of Group Management, the ESC serves as an expert committee that guides the development of sustainable business models, governance, strategies, and targets. The Greenhouse Gas Steering Committee, composed of the CEO, CFO, and Group Management member Operations, leads the global climate strategy. Each member of Group Management has individual responsibilities under the Sustainability Plan, e.g., while the Group General Counsel is responsible for the Group Compliance program, the Group Management member Operations is responsible for the operationalization of the science-based targets. The appointment of the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) as a new member of Group Management in 2023 also demonstrates the important role that people play in our business strategy. For information on the compensation of our Group Management and the associated ESG targets, please refer to our Compensation Report (Annual Report 2023).

Sustainability Leadership Team

The CFO manages the Head of Group Sustainability, who in turn chairs the Sustainability Leadership Team, a body consisting of different functions. This team, supported by the Group Sustainability department, meets every two to three months and is responsible for steering the implementation of our Sustainability Plan. Additional topic-specific governance structures support the realization of the Plan. For example, the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) is a cross-functional sub-committee of the Sustainability Leadership Team. It is responsible for guiding the company’s human rights due diligence strategy and driving its implementation (see Business integrity and human rights). Business integrity is driven by the Group Compliance Organization (see Business integrity). For the climate strategy and its implementation, there is a Central Project Management team which tracks the effectiveness of activities and progress against plans. For further information on our climate-related governance, see our Roadmap to net-zero.

Sustainability representatives in subsidiaries

Each Group department integrates sustainability into its activities and responsibilities, and liaises with its respective counterparts at Lindt & Sprüngli subsidiaries. The subsidiaries designate an employee to serve, in part, as a sustainability contact person to help ensure end-to-end communication between the Group and the respective subsidiary. This is in addition to subsidiary staff responsible for integrating sustainability throughout the business. We additionally appointed one person, in part or in full, responsible for non-financial reporting in the finance department in each subsidiary to guide the non-financial reporting process and support data quality. Local Decarbonization Managers are appointed to take on responsibility for the local coordination and implementation of the actions defined in our Roadmap to net-zero.

With regard to climate issues, we have defined Centers of Excellence that use their expertise to translate our global science-based targets and actions into actionable local plans. They assess these plans’ alignment with local contexts and guide subsidiaries on their local plans. The local Greenhouse Gas Steering Committees and Decarbonization Managers own and design the local plans in line with our global climate commitment.

For further information on our company governance, see our Corporate Governance Report (Annual Report 2023).