ANNUAL
REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021
—
our programme of upgrades to energy and lighting
or medical and pharmaceutical facilities. These
source of protein.
measuring systems, including solutions for testing
less energy and reduce the carbon footprint for the
same output.
Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-rela
ted Financial Disclosures
As we describe above, sustainability is at the heart of our business. Both
through our solutions and our actions, we are committed to protecting
the environment to preserve our planet for the generations to come – and
this is core to who we are. However, it is early days in our transition to
formalising our approach and to establishing the framework to address
the recommendations of the T
ask Force on Climate-related Financial
Disclosures (“TCFD”).
The areas where we have made initial progress against the TCFD
recommendations are as follows:
Governance
—
The overall responsibility for assessing and monitoring clima
te-related
risks and opportunities is that of the Responsible Business Committee
of the Board. For 2022, the Committee intends to increase the
frequency of meetings for this purpose (among others).
—
At present, manag
ement’s role in assessing and managing climate-
related risks and opportunities is primarily the undertakings of the
CEO in this regard, who feeds into the workings of the Responsible
Business Committee. In addition, the heads of our subsidiaries in the
Eco-Med unit – namely, Celitron and Green Labs – are called upon
to provide their insight based on
their signicant experience and
expertise in environmental matters.
Strategy
—
As described in the introduction to this Sustainability Review
, our
solutions are designed to address societal challenges of today and
what we believe will be the demands of the future, which includes as a
result of climate-related changes.
—
In particular, it is as a result of this tha
t, in recent years, we have
taken the strategic decision to expand our Eco-Med and related
activity – whether through the acquisition of Green Labs, commencing
the provision of environmental analysis/testing from our labs in the
Distribution unit; expanding into the provision of instruments for the
recovery of insect protein (which has a role in combatting climate
change and also in oering a source of
protein that is less vulnerable
to the eects of climate change); and, as
announced during 2021,
participating in the Great Green W
all Accelerator. This continues to be
an important element of our strategy.
For the recommendations and principles of the TCFD that we have not
addressed, this primarily reects the fact that a)
BA
TM is
in the process
of formalising and embedding a structured approach to ESG and b) the
requirements regarding TCFD are new this year, which is a year during
which a substantial amount of time was invested in overhauling the
remuneration policy and in undertaking signicant corporate transactional
activity, namely the sale of our NGSoft subsidiary.
Nonetheless, we recognise the importance of more consistent climate-
related disclosures by companies and are committed to placing greater
focus on addressing the recommendations of the TCFD this year. To this
end, we are in the process of engaging a specialist adviser to work with
us to develop and implement a plan that would ensure we are taking
climate change properly into account in our planning and operations.
Accordingly, we expect to make strong progress towards addressing the
recommendations of the TCFD during the period to the publication of our
next annual report.
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