Lion releases 2023 Sustainability Report

Lion has released its 2023 Sustainability Report, detailing the progress the company made towards its sustainability goals last year, including exceeding its 2030 carbon emissions reduction target and releasing its second Reconciliation Action Plan.

The report details Lion’s sustainability outlook, which is governed by an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework, that looks at the company’s impact on the natural world, people and communities, and its employees.

Lion Group CEO, Sam Fischer, said that the Sustainability Report indicates significant progress across all three of these pillars.

“Lion remains deeply committed to having a meaningful impact on the world, and I am proud to release our 2023 Sustainability Report, which shows great progress against our Force For Good Strategy. As a leading adult drinks company, we continue to strive for excellence, drive positive change and live to our purpose of making the moment mean more,” he said.

“We acknowledge our role is to do the right thing for the long term for our people, the communities where we operate, our customers and our consumers. This report shows strong progress against all pillars of our strategy, whether it’s carbon emission reduction, driving the circular economy, or embedding diversity and inclusion.”

Environmental sustainability

Recent years have affirmed the importance of environmental action for Lion, with the 2022 Brisbane flooding impacting the XXXX brewery, and Cyclone Gabrielle in northern New Zealand and flooding in the NSW Northern Rivers affecting the business and its customers in 2023.

Lion has committed to a number of science-based goals to reduce its impact on the environment. By 2030, Lion aimed to reduce Scope One and Two greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 55 per cent, from a 2019 baseline, and the 2023 Sustainability Report revealed that these carbon emissions have now been reduced by 64 per cent. Lion also aims to reduce its Scope Three GHG emissions by 30 per cent within the same timeframe, and to reduce all GHG emissions by 90 per cent by 2050.

A major factor affecting Scope Two GHG emissions was Lion’s shift to 100 per cent renewable energy across Australian and New Zealand operations, which included power purchase agreements and behind-the-meter rooftop solar installations at XXXX, Little Creatures Geelong, Stone & Wood Murwillumbah, and the Four Pillars distillery.

Recognising the importance of sustainable farming practices when brewing beer, Lion has partnered with Certified Sustainable to source barley and hops from growers that prioritise the long-term health of the land on which they farm. This resulted in the creation of Stone & Wood’s Northern Rivers Beer, which was brewed with at least 70 per cent Certified Sustainable malt and 100 per cent Certified Sustainable hops, much of which was sourced from Ryefield Hops in Bemboka, NSW.

Additionally, in its four largest brewing sites, Tooheys, XXXX, Boags and The Pride, Lion has committed to increasing water use efficiency, and has reduced its overall water consumption to 3.32 litres of water per litre of beer produced, compared to 3.62 litres in 2022. This is progress towards Lion’s 2025 target of 2.4 litres of water per litre of beer produced.

Recycling has been another focus for Lion, and the brewer is making progress towards goals such as transitioning to fully sustainable labels by 2030, and 100 per cent recyclable packaging by 2025. Currently, 71 per cent of packaging uses sustainable materials, surpassing the 50 per cent goal set for 2025, and 99.58 per cent of packaging is recyclable. To increase the circular economy of recycling products, Lion has played an active role in various state-based container deposit schemes, including the establishment of the Victorian Container Deposit Scheme.

Lion is currently planning a new three-year Sustainability Strategy, which will be launched in 2025 and adopt the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures final recommendations.

Social and governance sustainability

Alongside its commitments to reducing its environmental impact, Lion is working to make a positive impact on communities and its employees.

In recognition of the importance of promoting responsible alcohol consumption, Lion continues to promote its no- and low-alcohol products, and partners with other organisations such as Smashed and DrinkWise. Additionally, it celebrated 10 years of its education program, Alcohol&Me. In 2023, the program exceeded its target across Australia and New Zealand, with over 50,000 modules completed. In the annual Behaviour Change Survey, more than 98 per cent of participants said that they had made a change to their drinking since completing the program, compared to 89 per cent in 2022.

Within the Lion business, progress has been made to increasing the presence of women, with women now making up 39 per cent of the team at Lion, and a less than on per cent pay difference for like-for-like roles between men and women.

In addition, Lion is focused on ensuring diversity, equity and inclusion, and set its first cultural diversity goals in 2023. This commitment included launching its first culturally diverse employee group, We Belong at Lion, hosting a five month cultural diversity masterclass, and hosting 10 leader self-reflection sessions to share the experiences of culturally diverse staff members with the team.

Sarah Abbott, Lion’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leader, said that the diversity of Lion’s staff is an asset to the business.

“At Lion, we strongly believe in the importance of embracing what makes us different, which then fosters inclusion and cultivates belonging. Only then can we thrive as a business that harnesses this difference towards greater innovation,” she said.

Another milestone in 2023 was the launch of the second phase of its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which aims to deepen Lion’s relations with First Nations employees, suppliers, and communities. The Innovate RAP follows on from the foundational Reflect RAP, which was launched in 2021. As part of the Innovate RAP, Lion has undertaken company-wide cultural capability training, is offering cultural experiences such as bush tucker trails and art workshops, and has increased the percentage of diverse spend with Indigenous suppliers from 24 per cent in 2022 to 52 per cent in 2023. In addition, Lion has a strategic partnership with Karrkad Kanjdji Trust to support four Indigenous women ranger programs in Arnhem Land. This support enabled 120 Aboriginal women living in to engage in meaningful employment and professional development opportunities.

Lion’s Sustainability Director, Justin Merrell, thanked Lion’s staff for their efforts in promoting ESG sustainability, both within the business and beyond.

“Our people at Lion bring our Sustainability Strategy to life and without their continued passion and determination we would not be able to achieve what we have. From their creativity with campaigns such as Give a XXXX, which rallied Australians into action by highlighting how the end of the world would lead to the end of beer, to the many staff who volunteer in our communities, to our teams always seeking to do things a better way,” he said.

“Our people at Lion live our value of doing the right thing for the long term every day and embody our vision of being a force for good.”

The post Lion releases 2023 Sustainability Report appeared first on hospitality | Magazine.