Climate Change Data

CIEL Group

Climate Impact & Sustainability Data (2022, 2023, 2024)

Reporting Period: 2022

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:62,366 tCO2eq
Water Consumption:2,237,000 m3

ESG Focus Areas

  • Fostering a Vibrant Workforce
  • Championing Inclusive Growth
  • Activating Climate Response

Environmental Achievements

  • Reduced carbon emissions (specific figures not provided, but a significant decrease is mentioned due to the discontinuation of coal as a fuel source in the Textile cluster)
  • Launched the Go Green Capex Campaign to assess capital expenditure needed to achieve climate objectives in the CIEL Textile cluster
  • Launched a solar roof project at Tropic Knits Limited
  • Various initiatives to minimize environmental impact of hotel activities (wastewater management, organic waste, local produce, endemic nursery, protecting bees, reducing single-use plastic)

Social Achievements

  • Group diagnostics on gender balance undertaken across all clusters and geographies
  • Revamp and relaunch of CIEL HEC Leadership Programme
  • Implementation of Talent Reviews and Talent Development programme
  • Launched the Katapult Mauritius Accelerator at Ferney Agri-Hub
  • Invested in social projects through CIEL Foundation since 2004
  • Increased number of employees with disabilities

Governance Achievements

  • Appointment of a Group Head of Risk
  • Communication of Group Risk Appetite Statement and Risk Policies to Cluster Risk Champions
  • Revamped CIEL Risk Oversight Committee
  • Updated CIEL’s Risk Management framework
  • Updated Board charter, Conflict of Interest/Related Party Transactions Policy and Share Dealing Policy

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • CIEL Sustainability Strategy 2020-2030
Medium-term Goals:
  • Not disclosed
Short-term Goals:
  • Establish pay parity by 2025
  • Enhance learning & development by 2025
  • Create a gender-friendly environment by 2023

Environmental Challenges

  • Ongoing logistical issues and pandemic-related challenges
  • Indirect impacts from the Russia/Ukraine conflict
  • Global rise in inflation and geopolitical tensions influencing customer purchasing patterns
  • Attracting and retaining talent, particularly in Healthcare and Hospitality
  • Climate change
  • Ever-evolving regulatory and compliance requirements
Mitigation Strategies
  • Cost mitigation measures across all operations
  • Rationalisation of suppliers
  • Alternative sourcing options
  • Hedging strategies for forex fluctuations
  • Close monitoring of geopolitical situations
  • Scenario/what-if analysis
  • Preventive, detective, and responsive cybersecurity measures
  • Group-wide roadmap for cybersecurity
  • Annual audits on cybersecurity
  • Staff awareness sessions on cybersecurity
  • Strong employee retention and employee value proposition strategies
  • Managing trade union relationships
  • Expatriate recruitment
  • Strong compliance culture
  • Dedicated compliance experts
  • Regular monitoring and compliance audits
  • Regulatory watch
  • Strategic discussions to analyse customer/market trends and competition
  • Product innovation
  • Developing unique value propositions
  • Impact investing

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement
  • Increasing local sourcing of food and beverages in Hotels & Resorts
  • CIEL Textile’s in-house supplier sustainability assessment

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: IFRS Foundation, SASB standards, Integrated Reporting Framework, Integrated Thinking Principles, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Certifications: Bonsucro (Alteo Milling Ltd)

Reporting Period: 2023

Environmental Metrics

Total Energy Consumption:177,419 MWh/year
Carbon Intensity:58% Carbon intensity compared to baseline of 2020

ESG Focus Areas

  • Foster A Vibrant Workforce
  • Champion Inclusive Growth
  • Activate Climate Response

Environmental Achievements

  • Conducted a Group-wide carbon accounting exercise including scope 1, 2 and 3
  • Group-wide deployment of an award-winning digital sustainability management tool enhancing our data governance and transparency
  • Completely eliminated single use plastic in all our hotels and ordered a water desalination plant for Long Beach.
  • Achieved 80% diversion rate
  • Waste policy implemented across all BUs
  • 10% reduction of water intensity and continues the installation of rainwater harvesting systems across all sites (50% factories covered).
  • Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) non-conformity achieved.
  • 37,500 Native trees planted in the Ferney Conservation zone

Social Achievements

  • Training of more than 1,000 leaders on Gender Equity via e-learning
  • Launch of the first Women Forum and training of 33 women talent in collaboration with Stellenbosch University
  • Implementation of a Group-wide Employee Engagement Survey
  • First international HR Forum in Mauritius with participants from India, Bangladesh, Madagascar and Uganda
  • Establishment of CIEL Foundation in 2004 and the Go Beyond Gender initiative
  • MUR 112M invested in social projects
  • 145,000 Beneficiaries for community empowerment projects

Governance Achievements

  • Full suite of Sustainability Policies reviewed to consolidate the foundation to integrate ESG in the cluster’s operations to keep pace with emerging obligations (regulatory or otherwise).
  • Roll-out of the UL360 Sustainability Software to gather, analyse and communicate sustainability and ESG data
  • Carbon accounting to obtain baseline insights on carbon emissions
  • Updated the Group Risk Appetite Statements
  • Revamping the Risk Governance structure of the Textile cluster
  • Updating the Group Risk Register

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Net zero emissions by 2050 (implied)
Medium-term Goals:
  • Achieve 60% renewable energy by 2030 (implied from short-term goals)
Short-term Goals:
  • Increase the proportion of long-term community actions to 40% by 2025
  • Increase the proportion of long-term community actions to 60% by 2030
  • Source/buy at least 25% of food and beverages from local producers by 2030
  • Establish accurate emissions baseline by 2022
  • Decrease our Scope 1 and 2 carbon intensity by 50% by 2030
  • Zero coal as boiler fuel by 2030
  • Adopt green (/bioclimatic) building practices as far as economically feasible for new buildings
  • 100% of value chain assessed by 2025, actions taken on all value chains by 2030
  • Achieve zero single use plastics in production by 2022 except Health and Safety constraints
  • Reduce waste to landfill by 50% by 2030
  • Replant 100,000 endemic trees in Mauritius by 2030
  • Reforest and/or afforest 1000 hectares of land by 2030
  • Reach 500,000 people with nature conservation awareness material per year by 2025

Environmental Challenges

  • Rising inflationary pressures, driven by disruptions in global supply chains and escalating commodity prices
  • Worldwide lack of skilled staff in the industry
  • Competition from non-banking financial services providers
  • Deterioration in credit risk profiles
  • Harnessing cyber risk given that financial services providers remain the prime targets for cybercriminals
  • Incremental regulatory and legislative changes
  • Sovereign default concurrent to political risk
  • External shocks to the economies where it operates or where material revenues are coming from, resulting in missed performance targets and shareholder dissatisfaction.
  • Increase in the incidence of cybercrime following the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war
  • Shortage of skilled and qualified workforce, particularly in Healthcare, Hotels & Resorts and Textile clusters, aggravated in certain sectors, by increased competition and tighter migration laws.
  • Increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events around the world with Mauritius being particularly exposed to rising temperatures and sea levels, accelerated coral erosion, volatile and extreme weather patterns.
Mitigation Strategies
  • Streamline our cost structure, foster agility and establish greater efficiency and resilience
  • Adequate measures to mitigate the lack of skilled staff
  • Improved banking margins and innovative lending strategies
  • Structured review process at the Audit & Risk Committee level
  • Proactive risk identification and mitigation
  • Action plans adopted across all clusters to strengthen cybersecurity capabilities, including recruitment of cybersecurity experts
  • Vulnerability Assessments and Penetration Testing performed on critical IT systems to identify vulnerabilities (extended to third party service providers for critical activities)
  • Strong employee retention and employee value proposition strategies across all clusters and operations
  • Investment in bespoke leadership development programmes for Top Talent
  • Expatriate recruitment where expertise is not available locally
  • Group Sustainability Strategy 2020-2030 around three main pillars (workforce, inclusive growth and climate response)
  • Roadmap devised at cluster levels to deliver the Group’s sustainability goals
  • Dedicated teams of sustainability experts and champions to drive action plans across the Group

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement
  • Prioritising local suppliers
  • Protecting human rights
  • Responsible sourcing

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks
  • Extreme weather events
  • Beach erosion
  • Coral death
  • Volatile and extreme weather patterns
  • Droughts
  • Floods
Transition Risks
  • Insufficient collective actions and geopolitical tensions
  • Inability to align with the national energy strategy with regards to the zero-coal policy/dependency on coal for production of electricity

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: Integrated Reporting, IFC Performance Standards, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Certifications: LEED Platinum Certification (Aquarelle Samudra and Laguna Kanakapura), EarthCheck Silver Certification (La Pirogue)

Sustainable Products & Innovation

  • Ferney Farm Living
  • #ComeAlive experiences at our resorts
  • Increase of certified sustainable raw materials at CIEL Textile

Awards & Recognition

  • PwC Sustainability Award (CIEL Textile)
  • Gold Distinction in the Best Sustainable Hotel category at the Sustainable Tourism Mauritius Awards 2023 (La Pirogue)

Reporting Period: 2024

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:60,904 tCO2e (Scope 1 & 2)
Water Consumption:2,064,365 m3
Waste Generated:46,832 tons
Carbon Intensity:1.8 tCO2e/m MUR (Group average)

ESG Focus Areas

  • Climate Change
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Governance
  • Community Engagement
  • Sustainable Supply Chain

Environmental Achievements

  • Reduced water consumption by over 100,000 m3 and chemical usage by 100,000 kg at Aquarelle Samudra.
  • Diverted 6 tons of textile waste from landfill through the Wealth Out of Waste (WOW) initiative.
  • Achieved zero food waste to landfill at Sunlife hotels.
  • Installed rooftop solar panels at various locations, contributing to significant electricity savings.
  • LEED Platinum certification for 4 garment-making factories and the head office of Aquarelle India.
  • Planted around 2,300 young native trees in Ferney Valley.

Social Achievements

  • 95% of grievances resolved within defined timelines.
  • Over 115,000 total man-hours of physical exercise facilitated.
  • Successful completion of CIEL Accelerating Women in Leadership Programme by 33 women.
  • Launched PwD programmes in Madagascar.
  • C-Care initiatives impacted over 7000 beneficiaries in FY24.
  • Supported local artisans and artists with over 65% of items displayed in Sunlife's boutiques sourced locally.

Governance Achievements

  • Established CIEL Sustainability Committee to oversee sustainability strategy implementation.
  • Developed Climate Strategy to understand and adapt to climate change.
  • 100% of CIEL Textile suppliers and subcontractors mapped and assessed for ESG performance.

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Zero lost time due to work-related injury by 2030.
  • Zero coal consumed as source of fuel in our subsidiaries.
  • Reach 500k people at Group level with nature conservation awareness initiatives by 2030.
  • Increase dedicated programmes for reduction of biodiversity loss and facilitate regeneration of ecosystems.
Medium-term Goals:
  • Achieve 60% renewable energy by 2028 and 80% by 2030.
  • Decrease our Scope 1 & 2 carbon intensity by 50% by 2030 (tCO2e/$M of revenue).
  • Reduce waste to landfill by 50% by 2030.
  • Reach industry-leading water efficiency levels by 2030.
  • Increase the proportion of long-term funding for community empowerment projects to 50% by 2030.
Short-term Goals:
  • Achieve a trust index/engagement score of 65% by 2027.
  • Implement and integrate PwD programmes by 2025.
  • 100% of grievances solved on harassment, discrimination, corruption, bribery & fraud.
  • No. of socially responsible products/services/experiences (at least one per cluster by 2025).
  • Zero blacklisted tier 1 suppliers and subcontractors by 2030.
  • Reach at least 35 % of women at management level (L and L-1) by 2027 and 45% by 2030.
  • 100% of owned buildings having adopted green/bioclimatic practices by 2030.
  • Reach at least 35% of women at directorship level by 2030.
  • 100% of Tier 1 suppliers and sub-contractors to be assessed against the Group minimum criteria by 2026.
  • Develop environmentally responsible products/services/ experiences in each cluster by 2025.

Environmental Challenges

  • Climate change impacts on operations.
  • Supply chain disruptions (implied).
Mitigation Strategies
  • Developed Climate Strategy and climate change adaptation plan.
  • Transition to renewable energy.
  • Supplier engagement and assessment for ESG performance.
  • Implementing energy efficiency measures across properties.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 100% of CIEL Textile suppliers and subcontractors assessed.

Responsible Procurement
  • ESG performance assessment of suppliers.
  • Knowledge sharing with suppliers for regulatory compliance.

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Awards & Recognition

  • Top sustainability awards from esteemed clients (Textile cluster)
  • Recognition for commitment to sustainable practices (Hotels & Resorts cluster)
  • Reinventing Customer Experience Award: Project Brilliant (CIEL Hotels & Resorts)
  • Business Transformation Award: Aldeno – Joining the Dots (CIEL Textile)
  • Sustainable Solutions Award - Environmental: Aquarelle Samudra Washplant (CIEL Textile)
  • Sustainable Solutions Award - Social: Bio Farm at Ferney Agri-Hub (CIEL Properties)
  • Coup de Coeur: Qualtrix (CIEL Healthcare)