Introduction

Material topics

Comet made significant progress in its sustainability strategy in 2022. Accordingly, this report on our non-financial performance has been expanded compared to the Sustainability Report first presented in 2021. The report, prepared in accordance with the GRI standards, provides information on our non-financial performance in the reporting year. The content of the GRI report is based on an assessment of those issues in our value chain that have the greatest impact on the environment, society, and the economy in the medium and long term. The materiality analysis is reviewed and approved by the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors every year. The next major analysis is planned for 2024.

The material topics shown above were developed in three steps during 2021. First, from among many topics, a shortlist of possible material issues was drawn up with the support of outside experts. This selection was made based on the Comet Group’s corporate profile. In the second step, a materiality analysis in accordance with GRI standards was carried out in an expanded project group. As part of this analysis, the topics were assessed in terms of their relevance to stakeholders, their impact on sustainable development and – as a third dimension – their relevance for value generation.

This three-dimensional approach ensures that the results support not only corporate reporting but also strategy development. In the final step, the draft materiality matrix was discussed, adapted, and approved by the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors.

To take into consideration the perspective of the various stakeholders on a proxy basis, employees from all levels of the organization, from all divisions and from a variety of other functions were included in the process.

As a result of this process, the 15 topics shown above were identified as material. More information on the individual topics is provided in the relevant sections in the Report in Accordance with GRI Standards.

To improve performance on our material topics, we closely partner with Comet’s stakeholders. Our key stakeholders are our employees, customers, suppliers, and shareholders. Some of these stakeholders have a direct impact on the improvement of material issues, while others are in turn impacted by our actions. We are therefore in regular communication with those stakeholders, in some cases daily. Typical interactions include quarterly “all hands” conference calls between the CEO and CFO and the employees, interactions on the Yammer social networking platform, regular meetings and calls with customers and suppliers, investor conferences, capital markets days with financial analysts and shareholders, and the annual shareholder meeting. In 2022, interactions with stakeholders resulted in management actions such as increasing inventories to maintain the ability to supply to customers, developing a flexible approach to working from home, increasing our production capacity in Malaysia, and launching a project for the installation of a photovoltaic system at the site in Switzerland.