The Non-Financial Information Statement (Sustainability Report) aims to contribute to measure, monitor, and manage the performance and impact on society of the Viscofan Group (hereinafter referred to as “Viscofan Group” or “Viscofan”); Viscofan S.A., parent company of the Viscofan Group, (hereinafter referred to as the “Company”) and subsidiaries, providing relevant information that may substantially influence the decision making of stakeholders, as well as identify risks to improve sustainability and increase the confidence of investors, consumers and society.

This non-financial statement covers the period from 1 January to 31 December 2023 for the financial year of the Viscofan Group.

The scope of this report covers the companies that form part of the Viscofan Group at 31 December 2023, detailed in note 2 to the annual consolidated financial statements. 

This report was drawn up by the Board of Directors of Viscofan S.A. on 29 February 2024.

This document was prepared pursuant to Law 11/2018, of 28 December, on non-financial and diversity information. Furthermore, Viscofan has prepared this report based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards for the aforementioned period.

Alongside this, the United Nations Global Compact, of which Viscofan is a member, has been taken as a reference. In this regard, it is also a progress report on the measures taken by the Group to implement the 10 Principles of the Global Compact, in line with the Global Compact reporting policy. 

To contribute to improved climate change reporting, Viscofan has used the Task Force on Climate related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) as a reference, which recommends general elements on which the organisations must focus to manage climate change risks and opportunities, and the Carbon Disclosure Project questionnaire, which includes the TCFD recommendations.

Additionally, the Environment section of this report complies with the information obligations established by Article 8 of Regulation 852/2020 of the European Union regarding the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investments. This regulation is developed by Delegated Regulation 2139/2021, which establishes the technical selection criteria for determining under what conditions an economic activity will be considered to contribute substantially to the objectives of mitigation and adaptation to climate change, and by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2486 in the case of the objectives sustainable use and the protection of water and marine resources, the transition to a circular economy, the prevention and control of pollution, or the protection and recovery of biodiversity and ecosystems. All of this, in accordance with Delegated Regulation 2178/2021, which develops the reporting methodology.

This report details and explains the relevant aspects identified in the materiality analysis based on the Viscofan Group strategy called Beyond25 and the new Sustainability Action Plan for the 2022-2025 period, and with a longer time horizon based on the 2030 commitments related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and on the goals set out in the European Green Pact to overcome the challenges of climate change and environmental degradation which, among others, seeks to achieve climate neutrality in the European Union by 2050.

In accordance with requirement 7 of GRI Standard 1-Foundation 2021, this report includes a GRI Content Index as a navigation tool in the Annex to the Non-Financial Reporting Statement, item 2.6.1 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Content Index. 

Furthermore, the traceability of the content of this report with the Non-financial and diversity information Act 11/2018 is detailed in the Annex to the Statement of Non-Financial Information point 2.6.2. Content index of Law 11/2018 on Non-financial and diversity information.

Relations with our stakeholders

The Viscofan Group understands sustainability as the ability to create value among its various stakeholders in the short, medium and long term without compromising the well-being of future generations. To achieve this commitment, appropriate communication channels have been identified and established to ensure an open dialogue and to be aware of their needs and expectations, allowing the identification and analysis of the most relevant aspects of value creation that inspire the Viscofan Group's success strategy. 

The details of stakeholders and the communication channels used are as follows:

Materiality

This report contains the information on the performance and response of the Viscofan Group to the most significant aspects identified, considering the materiality analysis performed with the advisory services of an independent expert. 

Within the framework of the Viscofan Group's Beyond25 Strategy and the Sustainability Action Plan, both with a 2022-2025 horizon, the Group has a materiality analysis that identifies the most significant economic, environmental, social and governance impacts of the company that substantially influence the assessments and decisions of stakeholders.

A dual perspective reflected in Directive 2014/95/EU on disclosure of non-financial information and diversity information has been considered: 

• Outsider's perspective: How the non-financial aspects affect the situation and earnings of the Viscofan Group.
• Insider's perspective: How the Viscofan Group affects the surroundings from the viewpoint of social, environmental, and human rights protection aspects and, therefore, how it affects the different stakeholders.

For the preparation of the materiality analysis, 45 material aspects have been identified for the different stakeholders based on the following:

• Analysis of the reporting standards used by benchmark companies and the main customers.
• Analysis of different media to identify trends in the most significant aspects for society.
• Sustainability trends. United Nations Global Compact and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Task force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and CDP.
• Reporting standards (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board or “SASB”).
• Requirement of analysts and institutions.
• Regulatory analysis. Law 11/2018, of 28 December, which amends the Code of Commerce, the consolidated Corporate Enterprises Act approved by Legislative Royal Decree 1/2010, 2 July, and Audit Law 22/2015, 20 July, in the area of non-financial and diversity information.
• Recommendations of the GRI Standards, which establishes materiality as one of the Conformance Requirements that determine the content of the reports that report under this standard.

These significant issues were then presented to the heads of various areas of the Viscofan Group to assess their impact on the Group's operations and reputation and on the environment.

The results of this analysis have been presented in a materiality matrix, with the vertical axis representing the external importance, and the horizontal axis the internal importance. 

Of the 45 material aspects analysed, the positioning obtained allows Viscofan to focus on the 24 topics of greatest external and internal relevance in the matrix obtained, which are reported in this Non-Financial Information Statement. 

The result of this analysis has served to monitor the Sustainability Action Plan approved by the Company's Board of Directors, in which the most significant aspects identified in the area of sustainability are aligned with the implementation established in the Strategic Plan.

This Non-Financial Information Statement is organised in its structure to inform on Viscofan's performance in the most significant matters identified in the area of sustainability.

Generated and distributed value matrix

Based on the cash flows generated in 2023, the matrix of value generated and distributed by stakeholder is as follows: