Metsä Board Sustainability Report 2022

available, as forest certification standards prohibited during the 2022 spring the use of Russian and Belarusian wood in PEFC- and FSC-certified products and products containing controlled wood. Metsä Board has managed to retain a high level of certification in its wood use thanks to the high share of certified forests in our main wood supply areas: around 90% in Finland and 65% in Sweden.

other partner in terms of trade sanctions, money laundering, corruption, human rights violations, and other key risks. • A separate sustainability assessment is conducted for our most significant suppliers and potentially risky suppliers. It comprises a self-assessment form for the supplier, an analysis of the responses and any recommendations for developing the supplier’s operations. • Metsä Group or an external party audits some of the suppliers. In our audits, we focus on the way in which suppliers handle environmental matters and ensure quality and safety at work in their operations. We have trained our auditors to detect risks related to forced labour and labour exploitation. • We investigate the origin – at least the country of origin – of our raw materials and packaging materials with product safety questionnaires. • We also require our suppliers to meet our requirements with regard to the cleanliness and safety of products (pp. 50–51). • We monitor the development of sustainability of the suppliers for whom we have recommended development measures. • We require our employees in the procurement organisation to complete e-learning courses in topics such as procurement, agreement and competition policy. In 2022, we continued to improve the traceability of our raw materials, including process, basic and coating chemicals, as well as packaging materials. We aim to make information about the origin of raw materials a more inherent part of risk analyses and to better target supplier background checks and audits at suppliers in risk countries. In 2022, a third party audited 14 (17) of our suppliers and Metsä Group audited 2 (0).

Read more about forest biodiversity and carbon storage on pp. 9–11 .

WOOD SUPPLY AREAS IN 2022

Finland �� 60% Sweden �� 32% Baltic countries �� 7% Russia* �� 1%

* Wood supply from Russia was discontinued in March 2022.

Procurement of other raw materials and services The sustainability of suppliers providing material other than wood or fibre, including chemicals, machinery, equipment, transport and other services, is centrally ensured in Metsä Group’s procurement process. Our procurement process includes a number of risk management tools: • The minimum requirements for our suppliers are detailed in our Supplier Code of Conduct. The Code sets requirements on human rights responsibilities, health, safety and environmental responsibilities, and includes a recommendation to set emission reduction targets for greenhouse gases. Our Code of Conduct is part of our purchase agreements, and all our sup- pliers are required to commit to them or to their own equivalent principles. The agreements may furthermore contain other sustainability requirements. • In our supplier selection process, we assess the sustainability risks of all our suppliers with the help of country risk classifica- tions. We also analyse category-specific risks. • Third-party due diligence is carried out for most of our suppliers as part of the Know Your Business Partner process. It provides us with a better understanding of who we are working with and helps us reduce the risk of participating in illegal activities. The checks cover the background of a customer, supplier, or

METSÄ BOARD SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2022