METSÄ BOARD Annual review 2024
G – Governance
Health and safety Product compliance is monitored with the product safety process, which includes raw material management, compliance assessment and product testing, both internally and with external cooperation partners. Metsä Board’s mills have ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000 food safety systems that cover food safety-related risks across the production and supply chain, and the functioning of systems is assured annually with internal and external audits. Metsä Board’s product safety specialists continuously monitor developments in legislation and requirements. Production-related product safety risks are managed with methods such as the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points), which is used at all Metsä Board production units. A HACCP hazard analysis is carried out whenever there are changes in essential processes or raw materials. Metsä Board’s products are tested regularly in accredited laboratories to ensure their quality and safety. The laboratory analyses and detailed composition compliance analyses form the basis for our Product Safety Statement, which includes product-specific information about product safety and compliance. Quality and safety are also monitored with the aid of reputation surveys, customer feedback and customer surveys. Metsä Board conducts
quarterly monitoring and assessment of customer feedback related to any negative impacts on consumers and end-users. Any negative impacts are classified as material based on the type code of the customer feedback. The type codes monitored include foreign objects in products, purity of product, and sensory properties. Access to quality information Product management processes include established practices to ensure the product information is compliant and up to date, and to correct any mistakes in the information. Product information is managed with Metsä Group’s Product Informa- tion Management system, which was introduced in 2022 and is developed to support new product information management needs. Product informa- tion management is used to actively monitor the accuracy and compliance of product information in connection with all changes occurring in the process. Metsä Group has an internal control process that is also applied in the management of product information and in accordance with which the compliance of Metsä Board’s products is assessed once a year.
G1 – Business conduct Impacts, risks and opportunities related to business conduct
Business operations and value creation 2 This is Metsä Board 4 CEO’s review 6
Impacts
Risks and opportunities for Metsä Board
Management
Corporate culture
Opportunity: The employees’ and other stake- holders’ experience of Metsä Board and the company’s reputation as an ethical and reliable operator strengthen. Risk: Metsä Board incurs financial losses due to operations in breach of legislation. The com- pany’s reputation as a sustainable partner and operator weakens. Unequal treatment and har- assment reduce the employees’ job satisfaction and commitment. Opportunity: The stakeholders’ experience of Metsä Board and the company’s reputation as an ethical and reliable operator strengthen, improv- ing performance and competitiveness. Risk: Corruption and bribery have significant fi- nancial consequences and weaken the reputation and employer image.
Metsä Board’s measures to promote an eth- ical corporate culture offer the employees a safe work environment and other stakehold- ers an opportunity for cooperation with an ethical and reliable operator. Inadequate measures to commit employees to an ethical corporate culture could lead to non-compliance with the law or unethical business operations, as well as unequal treatment and harassment.
• Employees learn about ethical corporate culture during induction and later during employment, through e-learning and classroom training, as well as through internal communication. Particular emphasis is placed on developing supervisors’ grievance resolution skills through targeted training. • Ethical corporate culture is measured with the ethics index based on the ethics statements included in the employee survey. The in- dex indicates employees’ experience of the ethics of our business. • Metsä Group’s Compliance and Ethics Channel is available to all external and internal stakeholders. • Employees are offered information about ethical corporate culture during induction, and later during employment, through e-learning and classroom training. • In 2024, Metsä Group released its new anti-corruption principles that supplement its earlier guidelines. • Metsä Board has appropriate continuously developed internal controls. • Ethical corporate culture is measured with the ethics index based on the ethics statements included in the employee survey. The index indicates employees’ experience with the ethics of our business. • Everyone can report grievances through the Compliance and Ethics Channel. • Suppliers are required to commit to the Code of Conduct. • Metsä Board follows due diligence in its selection of partners (Know Your Business Partner process). • Joint sustainability targets and actions are agreed with partner-lev- el suppliers. • The company uses supplier assessments, surveys and audits, as well as risk analyses. • Procurement employees are trained in matters concerning ethics and sustainability. • Cooperation is close with local contract entrepreneurs in harvest- ing, transport and forestry work. • The sustainability and traceability of wood fibre is ensured in accordance with the Chain of Custody. • The traceability of other raw materials and packaging materials is continuously developed • Anonymous reports can be submitted through Metsä Group’s Compliance and Ethics Channel. • The reports are handled in confidence under the Compliance Committee’s lead. • Metsä Board is committed to protecting the rights and privacy of people who report breaches in good faith. These commitments have been confirmed in both the Code of Conduct and the Princi- ples on non-compliance notifications and the related investigation, which have been updated to comply with the new requirements of the EU Whistleblowers Directive. • An ethical corporate culture and the Code of Conduct are deployed through training and communication. The Code of Conduct in- cludes Metsä Group’s policies on matters such as gifts, hospitality, conflicts of interest, anti-corruption and fair competition. The anti-corruption principles published in 2024 supplement these guidelines. • Influencing plans and key social messages are based on Metsä Group’s and its business areas’ strategies, reviews of the operating environment and surveys of regulatory risks. • The progress and success of influencing activities are regularly reported to Metsä Board’s and Metsä Group’s management and Board of Directors.
Strategy and financial targets
8
Value creation
Financial development 10 Key figures 12
Report of the Board of Directors
Corruption and bribery
20 20 37 70 89 96
• Sustainability statement
Prevention and detection: Metsä Board’s measures and control mechanisms for preventing corruption and bribery offer stakeholders the opportunity to cooperate with an ethical and reliable operator. Incidents: Inadequate measures and control mechanisms for preventing corruption and bribery could lead to corruption and bribery in violation of Metsä Group’s Code of Con- duct and legislation.
General information
E – Environment
S – Social responsibility
G – Governance
Annexes to the Sustainability statement
98 Consolidated financial statements 102 Notes to the consolidated financial statements 150 Parent company financial statements 153 Notes to the parent company financial statements 166 The Board’s proposal to the Annual General Meeting for the distribution of funds 167 Auditor’s Report 171 Sustainability statement assurance report 173 Shares and shareholders 177 Ten years in figures 178 Taxes 179 Production capacities 181 Calculation of key ratios and comparable performance measures Corporate governance 183 Corporate governance statement 190 • Board of Directors of Metsä Board 194 • Corporate Management Team of Metsä Board
Management of relationships with suppliers including payment practices Metsä Board’s requirements and control mechanisms, as well as its sustainability cooperation with suppliers, have a positive impact on the realisation of ethical operations and sustainability in the supply chain.
Opportunity: Metsä Board’s reputation as a sustainable partner and operator improves. Cooperation with suppliers becomes stronger and leads to long partnerships. Risk: Metsä Board unintentionally supports operations contrary to its values, which risks the company’s reputation as a sustainable partner. Relationships with suppliers weaken, leading to the loss of the best partnerships .
If Metsä Board’s requirements and control mechanisms were inadequate, this could lead to non-compliance with the law or the com- pany’s requirements in the supply chain. Inadequate training of the procurement em- ployees or insufficient control mechanisms could cause unequal treatment of suppliers.
Protection of whistle-blowers
Risk: Trust in the Compliance and Ethics Channel wanes, and suspected misconduct is not report- ed. Activities contrary to Metsä Board’s values and Code of Conduct may not be detected. Unlawful activities may incur financial losses. The employees’ job satisfaction and the employer image weaken
Failure to protect the anonymity of whis- tle-blowers and confidentiality could lead to retaliation against whistle-blowers or the victim. No such incidents were recorded in 2024.
Political influence and lobbying activities
Opportunity: Political operators recognise the potential of the circular bioeconomy and the role of forests and wood-based solutions in climate change mitigation, improving the conditions of Metsä Board’s operations.
Through successful influencing and lobbying, Metsä Board, as part of Metsä Group, can introduce views into social debate that pro- mote the circular bioeconomy and highlight wood-based products as an alternative to plastic-based products, for example, and emphasise their role in climate change mitigation. If Metsä Group’s key messages related to influencing and lobbying or the related ethical practices are not adequately implemented in the company, this may lead to influencing or lobbying that is inconsistent or in breach of the company’s policies. The potential of the circular bioeconomy and wood-based products in climate change mitigation would not be harnessed in society.
Risk: Metsä Board and Metsä Group are unable to consistently introduce the key messages identified as being material to political discus- sion, which may, in the worst case, lead to the realisation of regulatory risks. Unethical forms of influencing and lobbying weaken the company’s reputation as a sustainable operator.
196 Remuneration report 201 Investor relations and investor information
Positive impact on the environment and society or on Metsä Board’s business Negative impact on the environment and society or on Metsä Board’s business
88
89
Report of the Board of Directors | METSÄ BOARD ANNUAL REVIEW 2024
Powered by FlippingBook