Question

Question 1: Corporate sustainability is a new and evolving alternative to the traditional growth and profit maximization model. Under corporate sustainability, corporate growth and profitability are still recognized as important, but it requires the corporation to also pursue societal goals including environmental protection, social justice as well as economic development. Global 100 ranks large corporations across the globe on their reducing carbon waste, gender diversity, and overall sustainability. The top 2 from this list in 2019 were:

1 Chr. Hansen Holding A/S Denmark Food or other Chemical Agents

2 Kering SA France Apparel and Accessories.

Applying your understanding of sustainability accounting, critically analyze one of the above companies. With your analysis, consider the aspects of profitability, share price growth along with the societal goals.

Please provide references or link to the answers from where you have written so that it will be easy to read.

Answer 1

​Chr. Hansen turns up green energy to power sustainability ambitions

A 10-year agreement with Danish company Better Energy secures Chr. Hansen Denmark green electricity from two brand new solar parks that have just been taken into operation. This model can be replicated in other countries, and that’s the next step for one of the world’s most sustainable companies.

Groundbreaking decision
According to Peter Munck Søe-Jensen, EVP for Power Production & Asset Management in Better Energy, the agreement with Chr. Hansen is a good example of how companies can assume joint responsibility for creating new energy from renewable sources to the benefit of the entire country: “Chr. Hansen’s purchase of electricity from our two new solar parks in the next 10 years is groundbreaking. Today it is possible to choose a new green energy supply that makes a true difference because it directly supports the development of new renewable energy sources.

Chr. Hansen reports improved growth momentum in Q2: 5% organic growth in Q2 elevates year-to-date organic growth to 3%. "The second quarter was in line with our expectations. The COVID-19 outbreak in China did not have a material impact on our business in Q2, however, it is clear that we will see both favorable and unfavorable impacts in the second half of the year, as the virus has spread globally. Chr. Hansen is part of the global food supply chain and has strong offerings for the food, health and nutrition industries. Customers are securing safety inventories to ensure supply continuity to consumers that are buying more at grocery retail as they comply with stay at home government directives. The health and safety of our employees and continuity of service to our customers are our primary concerns, but so far we have managed to have all our production sites running at normal operations and have also continued to deliver on customer commitments.

Chr. Hansen accelerates its fermented plant-based activities by joining the MISTA network. Chr. Hansen has joined MISTA, a California-based start-up optimizer focusing on the development of sustainable, innovative foods. With this collaboration, Chr. Hansen wants to further develop fermented plant-based solutions that help customers match this trend, and help create a sustainable and resilient global food system that can feed a growing population.
82% of Group revenue contribute to the UN’s Global Goals. That is one of the reasons why Chr. Hansen was ranked the #1 Most Sustainable Company in the world by Corporate Knights.

In its Annual Report it mentioned, In January 2019, Chr. Hansen was awarded first place as the World’s Most Sustainable Company by Corporate Knights. We are incredibly proud and humbled by the recognition, which was awarded to us, among other things, due to our efforts to measure our impact on the UN Global Goals. In 2018/19, 82% of our business supported 3 of the 17 UN sustainable development goals. The efforts we have put into this enables us to bring a very powerful message to customers, employees and consumers alike; our products help to promote a more sustainable world. You can read more about our progress on sustainability in our Sustainability Report 2018/19, which is available at www.chr-hansen.com/en/sustainability-report-1819.

In April of this year, Chr. Hansen took the first steps toward creating the next generation of live biotherapeutic products, announcing a joint venture with Swiss-based company Lonza AG, a leading global pharma contract manufacturer. The joint venture, BacThera, seeks to pioneer and shape an emerging industry and enable customers to bring pharmaceutical-grade solutions for chronic diseases such as gastrointestinal diseases, skin disorders, obesity, diabetes, Parkinson autism and asthma. BacThera is a combination of the words bacteriology, therapeutic and era - clearly reflecting the company’s purpose to enable its customers to bring life-changing treat-ments to market. It marks the beginning of an important new chapter for Chr. Hansen, leveraging our expertise in producing bacteria and the research done in the human microbiome over the past five years. Now approved to start operations, BacThera is engaging with its first customers.

Source
https://www.chr-hansen.com/en
www.chr- hansen.com/en/sustainability-report-1819
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.chr-hansen.com/_/media/files/chrhansen/home/investors/reports-and-presentations/2018-19/q4/annual-report-2018-19.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwij6u-ly-LpAhX_xTgGHS-0DFUQFjADegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw2naRDHQeKGOuabctndVqgM&cshid=1591082897620