Materiality assessment
Telenor has for many years carried out materiality assessments on sustainability issues to help identify the topics that have greatest relevance to Telenor’s long-term business success and the most importance to Telenor’s internal and external stakeholders. The materiality assessment is updated every year to ensure Telenor captures the latest internal and external developments and accounts for them in its impact analysis.
Below is a list of Telenor Group’s most material areas. These areas are explored in detail in our 2021 Sustainability report. The report addresses Telenor Group’s ambitions and targets in each material area, provides an update from the last year, and outlines the strategy to work towards achieving the ambitions and targets.
Environmental
Climate
Environment
Social
Digital skills
Human rights
Diversity and inclusion
Health, safety, people security and wellbeing
Governance
Supply chain sustainability
Anti-corruption
Data privacy compliance
Cyber security
2021 review of our materiality assessment
In 2021, Telenor engaged an external company – Sustainia, to support the assessment of its material topics guided by the principles of double materiality, as defined in the published aspects of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group’s (EFRAG) framework, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) working papers, as well as the frameworks of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).
The Telenor impact assessment based on the principles of double materiality consisted of three phases. The first part of the analysis mapped key ESG issues and figures in order to understand the extent to which internal and external impacts are already considered in Telenor’s existing materiality assessment methodology. Next, the material areas were mapped and ranked in consultation with stakeholders and subject matter experts, and the appropriate accounting methodology to be applied was identified. The parameters and related SDGs were then analysed for each material area, and Telenor’s targets and initiatives were broken down across the key ESG issues.
The results of the impact assessment and workshop with stakeholders and subject matter experts highlighted a need to account more systematically for financial materiality on most ESG issues, which refers to the extent to which a particular ESG issue may influence future cash flows and/or the enterprise value of Telenor. The findings of the impact assessment identified some qualitative consideration of financial impacts, but also identified gaps in Telenor’s consideration of financial materiality and inward impact in connection with ESG issues. As such, Telenor will in 2022 work towards developing and executing a roadmap to close the gaps of the double materiality assessment of existing and potential ESG issues and to proactively align with the European Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (ESRGs). The next section of this report describes how Telenor focuses its efforts in its material areas and defines related ambitions and targets. It also provides a status update from 2021 and outlines Telenor’s strategy to achieve its stated targets.