B2 – Practices, policies and future initiatives for transitioning towards a more sustainable economy

🗂️ VSME Basic Module – General information, page 8-9

If the undertaking has put in place specific practices, policies or future initiatives for transitioning towards a more sustainable economy, it shall state so. The undertaking shall state whether it has:

(a) practices. Practices in this context may include, for instance, efforts to reduce the undertaking’s water and electricity consumption, to reduce GHG emissions or to prevent pollution, and initiatives to improve product safety as well as current initiatives to improve working conditions and equal treatment in the workplace, sustainability training for the undertaking’s workforce and partnerships related to sustainability projects;

(b) policies on sustainability issues, whether they are publicly available, and any separate environmental, social or governance policies for addressing sustainability issues;

(d) targets to monitor the implementation of the policies and the progress achieved towards meeting such targets.

Such practices, policies and future initiatives include what the undertaking does to reduce its negative impacts and to enhance its positive impacts on people and the environment, in order to contribute to a more sustainable economy. Appendix B provides a list of possible sustainability issues that could be covered in this disclosure. The undertaking may use the template found in paragraph 78 to report this information.
If the undertaking also reports on the Comprehensive module, it shall complement the information provided under B2 with the datapoints found in C2.

🗂️ VSME Basic Module Guidance – General information, page 16-17

Undertakings may use the following template to report on B2 datapoints.

	Do you have existing sustainability practices/ policies/ future initiatives that address any of the following sustainability issues? [YES/NO]	Are they publicly available? [YES/NO]	Do the policies have any targets? [YES/NO]
Climate Change
Pollution
Water and Marine Resources
Biodiversity and Ecosystems
Circular Economy
Own Workforce
Workers in the Value Chain
Affected Communities
Consumers and endusers
Business conduct

If the undertaking is a cooperative, it may disclose:

(a) the effective participation of workers, users or other interested parties or communities in governance;

(b) the financial investment in the capital or assets of social economy entities referred to in the Council Recommendation of 29 September 2023 (excluding donations and contributions); and

(c) any limits to the distribution of profits connected to the mutualistic nature or to the nature of the activities consisting in services of general economic interest (SGEI).

Guidance for own workforce, workers in the value chain, affected communities and consumers and end/users

In order to understand the sustainability issues that relate to social and human rights, refer to Appendix B for a list of possible sustainability issues. This list could help identify if the policies, practices or future initiatives are aimed at addressing negative human rights impacts in a comprehensive way or if they are limited to certain groups of affected stakeholders (for example, workers in the upstream value chain). As part of this disclosure undertakings may also disclose whether they have a process to address human rights related complaints.

🗂️ VSME Appendix B: List of possible sustainability issues, page 56-58

The appendix below is an integral part of this Standard and provides a list of possible sustainability issues.

Topic	Sustainability issue: Sub-topic	Sustainability issue: sub-sub topic
Climate change	− Climate change adaptation − Climate change mitigation − Energy
Pollution	− Pollution of air − Pollution of water − Pollution of soil − Pollution of living organisms and food resources − Substances of concern − Substances of very high concern − Microplastics
Water and marine resources	− Water − Marine resources	− Water consumption − Water withdrawals − Water discharges − Water discharges in the oceans − Extraction and use of marine resources
Biodiversity and ecosystems	− Direct impact drivers of biodiversity loss	− Climate Change − Land-use change, fresh water-use change and sea-use change − Direct exploitation − Invasive alien species − Pollution − Others
− Impacts on the state of species	− Examples: − Species population size − Species global extinction risk
− Impacts on the extent and condition of ecosystems	− Examples: − Land degradation − Desertification − Soil sealing
Impacts and dependencies on ecosystem services
Circular economy	− Resources inflows, including resource use − Resource outflows related to products and services − Waste
Own workforce	− Working conditions	− Secure employment − Working time − Adequate wages − Social dialogue − Freedom of association, the existence of works councils and the information, consultation and participation rights of workers − Collective bargaining, including rate of workers covered by collective agreements − Work-life balance − Health and safety
− Equal treatment and opportunities for all	− Gender equality and equal pay for work of equal value − Training and skills development − Employment and inclusion of persons with disabilities − Measures against violence and harassment in the workplace − Diversity
− Other work-related rights	− Child labour − Forced labour − Adequate housing − Privacy
Workers in the value chain	− Working conditions	− Secure employment − Working time − Adequate wages − Social dialogue − Freedom of association, including the existence of work councils − Collective bargaining − Work-life balance − Health and safety
− Equal treatment and opportunities for all	− Gender equality and equal pay for work of equal value − Training and skills development − The employment and inclusion of persons with disabilities − Measures against violence and harassment in the workplace − Diversity
− Other work-related rights	− Child labour − Forced labour − Adequate housing − Water and sanitation − Privacy
Affected communities	− Communities’ economic, social and cultural rights	− Adequate housing − Adequate food − Water and sanitation − Land-related impacts − Security-related impacts
− Communities’ civil and political rights	− Freedom of expression − Freedom of assembly − Impacts on human rights defenders
− Rights of indigenous communities	− Free, prior and informed consent − Self-determination − Cultural rights
Consumers and endusers	− Information-related impacts for consumers and/or end-users	− Privacy − Freedom of expression − Access to (quality) information
− Personal safety of consumers and/or end-users	− Health and safety − Security of a person − Protection of children
− Social inclusion of consumers and/or end-users	− Non-discrimination − Access to products and services − Responsible marketing practices
Business conduct	− Corporate culture − Protection of whistle-blowers − Animal welfare − Political engagement − Management of relationships with suppliers including payment practices
− Corruption and bribery	− Prevention and detection including training − Incidents