Assurance of Novozymes’ environmental and social responsibility reporting 2007
Recommendations and declaration of independence and competencies
As part of the assurance process, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) reports observations and recommendations to Novozymes. PwCs recommendations are reported to Novozymes at three levels based on the materiality of the underlying observations: the Board of Directors, Executive Management and local management.
According to the AA1000 Assurance Standard, we are required to include in our assurance commentary recommendations for improvement in relation to Novozymes’ environmental and social performance and reporting. Such recommendations do not affect the conclusions in the assurance statement.
Recommendations
Novozymes has recently expanded its business activities in the enzymes and BioBusiness area to find new applications for its products and technologies. Continual business expansion also takes place via acquisitions and partnerships. In 2007, Novozymes launched the Rethink Tomorrow initiative that includes a strategic priority to use its products and technologies to address global environmental challenges, in particular climate change. In view of this development, we recommend that Novozymes:
- Actively and systematically explore and assess whether this gives rise to new stakeholders and issues that need to be engaged, with a view to manage both risks and opportunities
- Allocate resources, as appropriate, to explore and manage emerging environmental and social issues, notably in the area of climate change through additional resources for life cycle analysis, while maintaining its current high level of sustainability performance
- In the process of forming partnerships, ensure that these are consistent with Novozymes’ sustainability policies and practices, or that there are established plans for such practice
- Continue efforts to develop targets, including long-term targets, which are aligned with strategic priorities, in particular with respect to carbon emission reduction potentials of products and technologies, while reconsidering the continued relevance of existing corporate targets, such as reduction of HCFC emissions
Declaration of independence and competencies
The AA1000 Assurance Standard requires us to make a statement with respect to our independence of Novozymes A/S and our qualifications for undertaking the assurance engagement. The scope, the basis of opinion and our conclusions are presented in our assurance report on Novozymes A/S’ Annual Report 2007.
Competencies
Our assurance team possesses the requisite skills and experience within financial and non-financial assurance, sustainability management, social and environmental issues as well as industry-specific knowledge to undertake this assignment. Our assurance team has been drawn from our Sustainable Business Solutions team, which comprises individuals with an educational and professional background within areas such as financial and non-financial auditing and reporting, environmental engineering and management, corporate sustainability management, communication, business, the natural and social sciences, as well as from our financial audit services department.
Independence
As financial auditors of Novozymes A/S, we are required to meet the independence requirements of international professional standard setting and national regulatory bodies. In addition, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ own Global Independence Policy, which in some areas exceeds those of international professional standard setting and regulatory bodies, is applicable to the firm, the partners and its professional staff, including all members of the assurance team. In general, we conduct business without any financial interests in, or personal or business relationships with our audit clients and their affiliates.
Gladsaxe, 24 January 2008
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