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Our
About This President’s About 2023 Apical2030 Approach to Transformative
Report Statement Apical Highlights Highlights Sustainability Partnerships

APICAL GROUP
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2023
OUR APPROACH TO

SUSTAINABILITY

A few key changes have been made in our updated addresses these challenges, to ensure that we
materiality matrix. We have split Supplier Diversity exceed expectations when it comes to regulations
and Inclusiveness into two different topics. Supplier and contribute to a long-term, sustainable palm oil
Inclusiveness, for example, has become a higher industry.
priority in our materiality matrix. This is driven by the
increasing number of suppliers partnering with Apical A prime example of the evolving landscape would
attributed by our Supplier Anchor Programmes. be the emergence of the IFRS Sustainability
However, for Supplier Diversity, it is ranked lower on Disclosure Standards (IFRS S1 and S2), issued by
the materiality matrix due to its minimised impact on the ISSB. The requirements in IFRS S2 are consistent
Apical’s operations. The positioning of seven topics with the four core recommendations and eleven
on the matrix have been revised, which are now recommended disclosures published by the TCFD.
considered of higher importance to Apical’s business A few notable differences of the IFRS standards
and our stakeholders. These topics are: Product would be the new requirements of disclosing
Quality and Safety, Waste, Empowering Communities, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) scope 3 emissions which are
Serving Smallholder Farmers, Supporting Human industry-specific disclosures with targets for reduction.
Rights, Biodiversity and Supplier Inclusiveness. Thus, with Apical’s commitment to transparency
More information on the definition of the material around climate-related risks and opportunities,
topics can be found in the Materiality Assessment and we have taken proactive steps in 2023/2024 to ensure
Stakeholder Engagement section in pages 133-136. robust TCFD/ISSB reporting which includes:
Capacity Building for Leadership
COMPLIANCE TO EVOLVING STANDARDS AND
REGULATIONS Engaged an external consultant to educate senior
executives and management on TCFD/ISSB
Palm oil is known for its versatility and high yield, but recommendations, fostering strategic understanding
there are continued concerns about its environmental for effective disclosure.
and social impact. Land conversion for plantations
releases greenhouse gases, impacting climate Climate Risk Assessment
change. Unsustainable practices like slash-and-burn
exacerbate deforestation, biodiversity loss and A comprehensive qualitative assessment of physical
soil degradation. Climate change can impact crop and transitional climate risks is underway across
yields, highlighting the need for adopting sustainable 20 assets. This will be followed by a quantitative
agricultural methods. All this has contributed to an physical risk assessment to gain a deeper financial
evolving landscape in regulations and frameworks perspective.
for stakeholders to comply with such as Task Force
TCFD/ISSB Disclosure in Sustainability Report
on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD),
International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)
We aim to publish our initial TCFD/ISSB disclosure
and EUDR where there is an increased scrutiny in
in the Sustainability Report 2024/2025.
how companies are managing environmental and
social impacts in their business. Apical continuously

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