Independent practitioner’s limited assurance report (Translation of the Finnish Original)
To the Management of Metsä Board Oyj
We have been engaged by the Management of Metsä Board Oyj (hereinafter also the “Company”) to perform a limited assurance engagement on selected sustaina- bility information for the reporting period 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022, disclosed in the Company’s Annual and Sustainability Report 2022 (hereinafter the Selected sustainability information).
Selected sustainability information The selected sustainability information within the scope of assurance are the economic, social and environmental sustainability indicators including EU Taxonomy KPIs for climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation as identified in the table “Data in scope of assurance” in the Company’s Annual and Sustainability Report 2022. Management’s responsibility The Management of the Company is responsible for preparing the Selected sustainability information in accordance with the Reporting criteria as set out in the Company’s reporting instructions described in the Company’s Annual and Sustainability Report 2022, the GRI Standards of the Global Reporting Initiative, SASB Pulp and Paper Products Sector Standard and EU Taxonomy Regulation (EU 2020/852) and Delegated Act (EU 2021/2178) (collectively “Reporting criteria”). The Management of the Company is also responsible for such internal control as the management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of the Selected sustainability information that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
assurance is obtained than in a reasonable assurance engagement. An assur- ance engagement involves performing procedures to obtain evidence about the amounts and other information in the Selected sustainability information. The procedures selected depend on the practitioner’s judgment, including an assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the Selected sustainability information. Our work consisted of, amongst others, the following procedures: • Interviewing senior management of the Company. • Conducting two site visits (one video interview and one on-site) with Metsä Board’s production sites in Finland and Sweden. • Interviewing employees responsible for collecting and reporting the selected information on sustainability indicators at the Group level. • Assessing how Group employees apply the reporting instructions and procedures of the Company. • Testing the accuracy and completeness of the information from original documents and systems on a sample basis. • Testing the consolidation of information and performing recalculations on a sample basis. • Considering the disclosure and presentation of the Selected sustainability information. Limited assurance conclusion Based on the procedures we have performed and the evidence we have obtained, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that Metsä Board Oyj’s Selected sustainability information for the reporting period 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 is not properly prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the Reporting criteria. When reading our limited assurance report, the inherent limitations to the accuracy and completeness of sustainability information should be taken into consideration. Our assurance report has been prepared in accordance with the terms of our engagement. We do not accept, or assume responsibility to anyone else, except to Metsä Board Oyj for our work, for this report, or for the conclusions that we have reached.
Practitioner’s independence, other ethical requirements and quality control
We have complied with the independence and other ethical requirements of the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including Interna- tional Independence Standards) issued by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA Code), which is founded on fundamental principles of integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behavior. PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy applies International Standard on Quality Control (ISQC) 1 and accordingly maintains a comprehensive system of quality control including documented policies and procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Practitioner’s responsibility Our responsibility is to express a limited assurance conclusion on the Selected sustainability information based on the procedures we have performed and the evidence we have obtained. We conducted our limited assurance engagement in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 (revised) “Assurance Engagements Other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information” and, in respect of greenhouse gas emis- sions, ISAE 3410 “Assurance Engagements on Greenhouse Gas Statements”. These standards require that we plan and perform the engagement to obtain limited assurance about whether the Selected sustainability information is free from material misstatement. In a limited assurance engagement, the evidence-gathering procedures are more limited than for a reasonable assurance engagement, and therefore less
Helsinki 21 February 2023 PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy
Mikael Niskala Partner ESG Reporting & Assurance Karsten Westerling Partner, KHT ESG Reporting & Assurance
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