Sustainability management and policy documents 

Decision-making body on sustainability

The Board of Directors has overall responsibility for the strategic focus of sustainability and climate work, and make decisions on the Company’s policies which are updated annually. The Board also makes decisions on significant investments, such as green investment programmes for Pandox’s climate transition to achieve the Company’s science-based targets and certification of properties. Feedback is provided to the Board through a six-monthly board report and an annual oral presentation by the SVP, Director of Sustainable Business. This includes a follow-up review of targets and activities to reach these. The Board’s expertise is to reflect the challenges faced by Pandox. Five of seven board members have worked or are working actively at real estate companies and thus have broad industry experience. In addition, three of the board members have many years of experience with listed companies. Based on requests from key stakeholders, there is one board member with solid sustainability experience. There are no employee representatives on the Board. Futhermore, continual training is provided, both internal training given by the SVP, Director of Sustainable Business, in topics such as climate transition and how different scenarios affect these, BREEAM certification, diversity and inclusion, and monitoring the external environment to identify relative trends and political decisions that may impact Pandox’s strategy and operations. The Board was informed about the results of work carried out internally in cooperation with an external party on Pandox’s impacts, risks and opportunities relating to sustainability topics in the double materiality assessment. The Board provided feedback and this was integrated into the final results of the assessment. The Board is kept informed about any changes in IROs, targets and metrics.

The CEO and the executive management team are responsible for day-to-day operation of the Company and for reporting to the Board of Directors. They are responsible for delivering on objectives and strategies and taking decisions on general operational matters, including sustainability. They are also to ensure that systems and processes are in place to monitor and control the Company’s operations and risks in all sustainability areas, including climate-related risks and opportunities. The SVP, Director of Sustainable Business is a member of the executive management team and contributes knowledge on this. During the year the CEO and executive management team addressed all of the material topics identified for Pandox. Monitoring and assurance that systems and routines are effective is carried out through annual reporting of all metrics in the sustainability report. SBTi targets are monitored continually during the year based on the transition plan that Pandox has established.

The Sustainability Committee, consists of representatives from the executive management team, addresses issues and decisions relating to sustainability work on a quarterly basis. The Sustainability Committee is also active in the green investment programmes and the BREEAM certification process for all properties in the Own Operations segment. The CFO convenes the committee meetings.

The SVP, Director of Sustainable Business is responsible for ensuring that sustainability is integrated into Pandox’s day-to-day operations in consultation with individuals responsible for the relevant areas, who are often the heads of the business areas. The Director’s participation in executive management meetings ensures that sustainability is always high up on the agenda and integrated into the Company’s business. The SVP, Director of Sustainable Business also leads two specific sustainability forums. The first forum is attended by the SVP Asset Management & Development, an internal energy specialist and an external energy consultant who runs the green investment programme for the Own Operations segment. The second forum is attended by the SVP Asset Management & Development and two external BREEAM specialists who pursue and implement BREEAM certification of properties in the Own Operations segment in cooperation with the hotel’s employees. The SVP, Director of Sustainable Business reports the outcome of sustainability work to the executive management team on a continual basis. Sustainability is also a permanent element of Pandox’s strategic kick-off meetings held twice a year for the executive management team, board representatives, head office employees and key decision-makers within Own Operations. The role also includes responsibility for targets and monitoring performance in relation to targets.

Sustainability manager is responsible for the sustainability work within Own Operations and reports to the SVP, Director of Sustainable Business. This person is assisted by at least one sustainability coach per hotel, who drives the efforts. The sustainability efforts are communicated quarterly via the Green Update report and at internal conferences held once or twice a year.

All Pandox employees are responsible for incorporating sustainability into their work in accordance with the Company’s policies and strategies.

Monitoring and control

In order to perform an accurate status analysis and prioritise the right activities and investments, Pandox continued to collect sustainability data on a monthly basis in areas such as water and energy use as well as waste. This data is validated every quarter. At the end of the year all hotels in the Company’s Operator Activities segment, as well as the majority of the hotels in Property Management, were included in the system. The goal is for all hotels to report into the system.

The sustainability data collection system has enabled analysis to be performed to assess and prioritise among various environmental investments. Analysis of the data resulted, among other things, in the creation of the second green investment programme in Operator Activities. The system has also identified the need to review waste procedures on site in Pandox’s own operations to gain control, set goals and reduce waste, and the need to put in place supplementary agreements containing green provisions in Property Management to meet the requirements in both the EU taxonomy and the Paris Agreement. To ensure compliance with the Codes, Pandox has internal control procedures – such as the “four eyes” principle, which requires two signatures on contracts to minimise the risk of errors or corruption. In recruiting contexts the “grandfather” principle is applied, whereby the CEO is always involved in the recruitment of key management roles. To ensure this is managed correctly in accordance with established processes, self-assessments are completed annually and reported on to Pandox’s Audit Committee. These controls help Pandox to maintain high quality in ongoing accounting processes and consequently also in financial reporting.

Whistleblower System

Pandox values and promotes an open culture where employees feel confident reporting misconduct or workplace issues so that they can be addressed. To support this, Pandox has an independent external whistleblower system available to employees and other stakeholders. The system allows for anonymous reporting of suspected irregularities or deviations from Pandox’s policies. Reported cases are handled by Pandox’s General Counsel together with the SVP, Director of Sustainable Business. Guidelines for Pandox’s Whistleblower Service.

Policies

Pandox has a number of documents and policies to guide employees, business partners and suppliers in order to be successful and progress in the sustainabiliy work. Find them here.