Sustainability Governance

At JC&C, we integrate sustainability at the highest governance level. The Board provides strategic guidance on all ESG matters and is responsible for overseeing the Group’s sustainability reporting. ESG is a standing item on the agenda of every Board meeting. The Board reviews and approves the material ESG topics on an annual basis, ensuring that these factors are considered in the determination of the Group’s overall direction and portfolio strategy as well as monitored and managed by management. Specifically for new investments and significant capital expenditure decisions, the Board assesses the ESG due diligence conducted by management, which includes an analysis of various ESG issues including climate risk. Supporting the Board is the board-level Audit Committee that is responsible for overseeing the management of all risks faced by the Group, including ESG risks.

The JC&C leadership team (“Excom”) is responsible for shaping the Group’s sustainability strategy by steering the ESG agenda and incorporating relevant elements into annual budget discussions, long-term portfolio strategy and capital allocation plans. Given this, ESG considerations are factored into management’s performance incentives.

The majority of the discussions and decisions take place at the management-level Sustainability Committee meetings, which comprises Excom members as well as heads of departments from ESG & Sustainable Development, Group Finance, Risk & Compliance, Legal, Communications and Human Resources. This committee convenes quarterly and is responsible for planning Group-wide initiatives in addition to setting goals and targets. These action plans are then executed by the Sustainability Working Group, which is composed of a wider range of employees from different levels. The working group convenes monthly to implement strategy, monitor trends and discuss issues.

There is a standalone ESG & Sustainable Development department, reporting directly to the Group Managing Director. This team coordinates the sustainability efforts across the Group by working closely with the different departments within JC&C as well as the sustainability teams within each portfolio company. In addition, they provide advice on sustainability matters and is responsible for collating ESG data for reporting purposes.

Our Approach to ESG Materiality

JC&C’s approach to determining, monitoring and managing ESG material topics is a five-step process.

  1. IDENTIFY

    Identify and define matters that may impact the execution of our strategy

  2. PRIORITISE

    Prioritise material factors based on its importance to our stakeholders and significance to the Group

  3. VALIDATE

    Review and validate findings from steps 1 and 2 on an annual basis

  4. APPROVE

    Sustainability Committee recommends the final list of material topics to the Board for review and approval on an annual basis

  5. EMBED

    Embed the approved material matters into the business strategy and ensure management of performance