|
Alcan's Sustainability Steering Team was
created in 2003 and reports directly to the Executive
Committee. Senior business group representatives and corporate
functional leaders participate in the Steering Team with an
overarching goal of ensuring Alcan's leadership position in
sustainability by integrating the concept into the Company's
mainstream business strategy and culture.
The Steering Team's strategy addresses six key areas:
| • |
Establishing overall direction for the Company's sustainability
approach. |
| • |
Identifying the key sustainability issues facing Alcan. |
| • |
Setting sustainability goals. |
| • |
Integrating sustainability into business decisions,
systems and processes. |
| • |
Developing internal and external sustainability networks. |
| • |
Increasing the transparency of communications. |
Actions were undertaken in all these areas in 2004.
The Steering Committee met four times to advance the elements
of the sustainability strategy and sponsored special sessions
in April and August to discuss the sustainability direction,
explore key issues and identify opportunities to integrate
sustainability into the Company's business systems.
In the April Direction Setting Session, approximately 40
individuals assembled to consider Alcan's sustainability framework
and approach. Representing various levels of Alcan management,
from business unit presidents to key functional managers,
along with industry experts, non-government organizations,
and supply chain representatives, the participants affirmed
the overall approach and identified a range of sustainability
issues and opportunities important to the business groups
and the organization as a whole. Following the April meeting,
the Pembina Institute, an independent, not-for-profit environmental
policy research and education organization worked with Alcan
to review the results of the Direction Setting Session as
well as external sources, and the interviewing of key Alcan
representatives to develop a proposed set of priority sustainability
focus areas.
In the August session, a group of internal and external experts
refined and prioritized eight key areas of focus facing Alcan
today. Following the session, these focus areas referred to
as the "Alcan 8" were presented to and affirmed
by Alcan’s Sustainability Steering Team:
By recognizing these eight areas as key factors in addressing
sustainability within Alcan, the geographic or business group
boundaries have been removed. These company boundaries can
sometimes hinder the development of a cohesive and forward-looking
global strategy to address an issue company-wide, confront
the challenges and identify new opportunities. Although this
list will likely evolve over time, it provides a useful framework
for considering Alcan's key challenges and opportunities as
outlined in this report.
Managing for sustainability at Alcan includes the creation
and nurturing of internal networks, whether it is between
business groups or within a particular business unit. During
2004, initiatives across business groups and corporate functions
were aimed at developing a network of individuals committed
to integrating sustainability into the functions under their
responsibility. These efforts build on several Alcan cornerstones
including its corporate values (integrity, accountability,
trust and transparency, and teamwork), the Global Employee
Survey and the Alcan Integrated Management System (AIMS).
|
