Nestlé is committed to reporting its performance openly; reflecting those areas with a significant current or potential impact on the Company. These include areas that are of significant concern to stakeholders over which we have a reasonable degree of control.
Given the nature of our business, we have identified nutrition, water and rural development as key global issues of concern to society. These three areas are core to our business strategy and competitive advantage, to driving growth in shareholder value and to meeting the needs of society, and were discussed at the first Creating Shared Value Global Forum in New York, in April 2009. Participants agreed on the urgency of the situation, in particular with regard to water and to the likelihood of a new food crisis in the coming years, and identified a range of causes, including under-investment in water systems, a lack of innovation, trade-distorting agricultural subsidies and ill-conceived government education programmes.
No one sector can be expected to solve those global issues. They require the close cooperation of business, local government, international institutions and NGOs, all of whom need a take a long-term view to make the necessary changes. Remedies are no longer about ideologies but practicalities, a holistic and integrated approach to addressing the issues and measuring results.
The content of this page was externally assured by Bureau Veritas, March 2011.
