'ASSA ABLOY is showing a high level of ambition when it comes to sustainability'

Matthias Eifert
Head of Fundamental Equities, Railpen:

"ASSA ABLOY’s focused set of sustainability targets for 2025 help investors to track progress on the most material topics, and hold management to account. We recognize the company’s strong advancement towards those targets, which we believe is reflective of the high level of buy-in from the executive team.

Railpen believes that sustainability and financial success are not mutually exclusive, so we encourage companies to think progressively. An example of this has been Nico Delvaux’s focus on developing internal talent and improving diversity since he became CEO in 2018. We encourage ASSA ABLOY to continue on this path in order to create a more inclusive organi­zation.

ASSA ABLOY’s longer-term commitment to reach net zero by 2050 meets our expectations, and we are reassured that related targets have been ratified by the Science Based Targets initiative. We are pleased with the initial outcomes of the decarbonisation strategy, such as the de-coupling of greenhouse gas emissions from sales growth, which is impressive for such an acquisitive company.

We equally recognize the challenge of reducing a carbon footprint that is predominantly comprised of Scope 3 emissions. Therefore, we would appreciate more detail on viable reduction mechanisms and key costs related to the Scope 3 action plan. It would also be beneficial to gain a better understanding of ASSA ABLOY’s approach to ongoing monitoring of its indirect suppliers, and their responsiveness. We would encourage the disclosure of this information through more extensive TCFD reporting, which we currently view as being at an early stage.

We recognize that ASSA ABLOY’s management is shifting its mindset from risk management to looking at the commercial opportunities for sustainabili­ty, such as access solutions that enable clients to reduce their emissions. It would be good to see this quantified in the next set of targets. For example, a percentage of sales from low carbon products or with environmental certifications.

Now that we are getting closer to 2025 we would like to see some lessons learnt from the delivery of current targets, and how this informs ASSA ABLOY’s future ambitions."

Johanna Sörgardt
Sustainability Analyst, Andra AP-fonden, AP2:

"We believe that ASSA ABLOY has come a long way in its sustainability work and has a clear plan, which is reflected in its detailed sustainability report.

One thing we like about the report is the highlights, which gives a useful summary of what has happened over the year and the Group’s progress.

We really appreciate that their goals are in line with the Paris Agreement. We like to see short, middle and long-term goals in a company, and ASSA ABLOY is also in line with the Science Based Targets initiative.

We are pleased to see that ASSA ABLOY has started to report on Scope 3 emissions and we look forward to seeing a decrease in these figures in the future. One thing we would like is for the Group to include Scope 3 emissions in its total reporting of CO2, so that we can follow Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 together.

ASSA ABLOY is already talking about sustainability in the whole value chain which is an important area to focus on and we would like to see as much transpar­ency as we can around that.

We would like to see a more clear capital allocation plan with regard to how ASSA ABLOY intends to reach net zero. We also would like to see more transparency around their ‘just transition’ plan, including impacted workers, communities and businesses strategies.

Biodiversity is a topic that ASSA ABLOY needs to focus on, including in its value chain.

Overall, we think that ASSA ABLOY is showing a high level of ambition when it comes to sustainability and that is reflected through their holistic approach throughout the organization. It feels as if they have everyone within the Group engaged when it comes to sustainability. That’s really important if they are to succeed in reaching net zero."