SUSTAINABILITY AT THE HEART OF THE GROUP'S STRATEGY

The Group’s activities are guided by a body of common principles based on respect for the law and a number of reference documents: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ILO Principles, the United Nations Global Compact and the OECD’s guiding principles.
In constant contact with the community and attentive to its evolution in more than 30 countries, the Carrefour group was early aware of the risks and opportunities and incorporated Sustainable Development into its comprehensive policy. This long-term approach is based on dialogue with its stakeholders.

The Carrefour Group has built its Sustainable Development policy on three interconnected pillars: economic, social and environmental issues. An in-depth consideration of the economic constraints on the Group’s activities has provided for the implementation of concrete, sustainable actions which create value for the company and its stakeholders. This pragmatic approach, fully integrated into our business activities, makes Sustainable Development a key element of the Group’s strategy.

Raising awareness of the Group's Values and ensuring compliance with ethical principles

In 2009, the Carrefour Group defined the 3 core Values of its business activities: Commited, Caring and Positive. They serve as guidelines to be used by Carrefour employees in their relations with stakeholders in every country. Each year, Group managers are evaluated on their ability to effectively integrate these Values into the exercise of their duties. In 2004, the Group adopted a Code of Conduct which was distributed to employees in all countries. As an expression of its Values, it sets forth the ethical framework in which employees must perform their day-to-day professional activities, and especially helps them in the fight against corruption. To strengthen its commitment to exemplary behaviour, a Compliance Officer position was established within the Group in 2008. Values and ethics are the subject of regular communications from the Business Units. Some of them have added training campaigns. For example, in 2008 Carrefour China launched a broad programme intended to strengthen its employees’ and suppliers’ support for compliance with ethical principles. More than 45,000 employees and 3,500 suppliers received training by the end of 2008. In addition, from now on the Code of Conduct will be included in business contracts signed with suppliers. Finally, certain countries - Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, China and Turkey - have established ethics hotlines enabling their employees and suppliers to anonymously report behaviour which is inconsistent with the Group’s Values.

A driving force for shared growth

Through its actions to promote Sustainable Development, Carrefour creates value which benefits its employees, suppliers, shareholders, host countries and communities. By launching products which anticipate emerging trends, by contributing to employee performance through a responsible human resources policy and by reducing costs through programmes which save energy and natural resources, it also contributes to its own profitability, and thus its own continuity.

AN ON-GOING DIALOGUE WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS

Stakeholder involvement from initial discussion of the Group’s challenges through to the operational implementation of its policies forms the basis of the Carrefour Group’s approach to Sustainable Development. Concrete actions are implemented in all countries where the Group is present thanks to its employees’ involvement and the expertise acquired with its partners over the long-term, but also thanks to the on-going exchange of ideas with all legitimate stakeholders on these issues

Listening, discussing and sharing

Identifying and anticipating the expectations of stakeholders, involve external expertise to develop the Sustainable Development policy, avoiding risk and defusing conflicts.
Pragmatic solutions emerge from tackling our commitments and constraints. We maintain an on-going dialogue through the Sustainable Development Department at Group level and through the countries, banners and stores at the local level. Each year, Carrefour organizes a Stakeholders’ Consultation Meeting with representatives from Carrefour’s primary contacts: SRI ratings agencies and fund managers, environmental and social NGO s, consumer organizations, unions, national and international bodies and Sustainable Development discussion groups.

Day-to-day upstream and downstream cooperation

Addressing issues related to Sustainable Development in a relevant way also means calling on the skills of internal and external specialists: for over ten years, Carrefour has established partnerships with organizations which help it more quickly and effectively move its projects forward. For example, the Group works with the FIDH (International Federation of Human Rights) to monitor working conditions at production sites of Carrefour own brand suppliers in sensitive countries. The Group has also formed partnerships with environmental NGOs such as the WWF which, among other contributions, supports its approach to preserving biodiversity and reducing waste. This collaboration goes far behind the realm of ideas. It also has an important operational dimension, with experts from the association sharing their expertise with buyers and the Group’s quality managers throughout the year as part of their work. They are involved in the Group’s overall approach and work on different issues such as its woodsupply policy, fishery resources, GMO, palm oil and soy; products affected by the Reach regulations and other matters. Carrefour also closely collaborates with its stakeholders through framework agreements, such as the agreement signed with UNI Commerce to respect Human rights at work.