In accordance with the GRI Standard, Lerøy carried out their first materiality assessment in 2016. This was updated in 2020. The purpose of the assessment is to identify those topics related to sustainability that are of most importance for the company and our key stakeholders.

The result is based on feedback from our external and internal stakeholders, provided via interviews, dialogue and meetings, in addition to feedback from customers, the authorities, NGOs etc. Interest in various types of sustainability has seen explosive growth in recent years, with a knock-on effect on results regarding important areas where Lerøy must maintain focus. The results from the materiality assessment are divided into six areas. The importance of these areas will vary according to the different stakeholders. See the table on dialogue with stakeholders on page 207.

We have made a change to our materiality assessment this year in comparison with the report issued in 2019, by changing some of the items reported so that they are more specific within the different materiality areas. There are no significant changes in the table.

Background

Lerøy Seafood Group has chosen to communicate their work on sustainability by reporting in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative or GRI. The GRI standard is the leading standard for sustainability reports and comprises different principles, guidelines and performance indicators to be used by companies in order to measure and report on economic, environmental and social factors. This is an international standard frequently utilised for sustainability, and will therefore be familiar for many of our stakeholders.

The GRI standards are organised hierarchically, with two main components:
- Universal standards
- Topic-specific standards
Series 200: Economic Series 300: Environmental Series 400: Social

Universal standards are obligatory, while topic-specific standards are selected according to the nature of business and impact. The companies can choose between two levels of ambition, and Lerøy has chosen to report in accordance with the “Core” reporting practice. This entails issuing reports according to the standards in which elements such as type of operation, materiality, impact and executive risk management are described.
The UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals have boosted sustainable development globally, particularly over the past years. As with many other businesses, Lerøy has an active approach towards sustainability, and is a member of UN Global Compact Norway.

Scope

GRI reporting comprises all active companies with associated employees in the Group.

Input

The information in the GRI Content Index is sourced from our different business systems for reporting figures within economy, society and the environment. If the information is sourced from other external sources, this is specified.

External verification

The GRI Content Index is reviewed in house and presented to the Audit Committee and Board of Directors of Lerøy Seafood Group. To ensure that our reports comply with requirements for the GRI standard and are correct, Lerøy has contracted a third party to review and verify our reports. Our reports are reviewed by PWC, who are also the Group’s independent auditors.

A selected number of our indicators have been verified during the audit. These are the following indicators:

> Sick leave (%)
> Undesired incidents, Near accidents (number)
> Undesired incidents, Safety observations (number)
> LTI-H value (%)
> Escapees (number)
> Average number of fully grown lice per fish in LSG Farming (number)
> Antibiotics used in sea (kg active substance)
> Volume of delousing agents used via bath (kg active substance)
> Volume of delousing agents used via feed (kg active substance)
> Survival in sea (%)
> Average density per cage, in sea, (kg/m3)
> Percentage of certified marine species caught (%)
> Average MOM B score
> FFDRm, salmon
> FFDRo, salmon
> Share of deforestation-free soy protein concentrate from Brazil with traceability (%)
> Climate accounts, Scope 1 and Scope 2

Management

Lerøy’s vision is: “We shall be the leading and most profitable global supplier of sustainable high-quality seafood.” By reporting in accordance with GRI-standards, we can demonstrate our work within three areas for sustainability: economy, society and the environment. By establishing specific targets within these different areas, we can continue to improve and manifest a clear direction in relation to achieving our goals and our vision.

Dialogue with stakeholders

Lerøy's values are open, honest, responsible and creative. It is therefore very important for us to maintain positive and open dialogue with all our stakeholders. As such, Lerøy obtains knowledge of and familiarity with those areas of interest to our stakeholders and can communicate how we work on the different areas. By maintaining regular and positive dialogue, we work together on improvements within individual areas, also reinforcing competencies in the different companies. Dialogue with stakeholders is important and helps Lerøy make progress towards the Group's goal to be the most sustainable supplier of high-quality seafood.

Lerøy carried out a materiality assessment in 2016 with a view to the company's reports in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) standard. This project has covered interviews with external and internal stakeholders, and the work on the project has identified those aspects that are of importance for achieving Lerøy's goals and, at the same time, the aspects of interest to the stakeholders.

In recent years, there has been an explosion in interest from different stakeholders, particularly regarding sustainability reporting. We respond to questions and take part in dialogues several times a week with different stakeholders. This is an ongoing process, where dialogue with different stakeholders is continuously updated throughout the year. The Group has therefore not implemented any special measures to identify our stakeholders as part of the report for 2020. We believe that our daily activities provide us with a good overview of our most important stakeholders.
Our overview of stakeholders is originally based on our review from 2016 and own experience over several years gained from various types of dialogue involving stakeholders. Examples of dialogue are collaboration projects, meetings, conferences, lectures, dialogue via different media, research by IPSOS on behalf of Lerøy, audits and other platforms.

The different stakeholders are selected on the basis of the impact they have with regards our operations and the impact Lerøy has on the stakeholders in terms of economics, society and the environment. In order to fulfil the requirements made by the different stakeholders for reporting, we have implemented indicators for the different areas. These are referred to in the GRI index.