The declaration of non-financial performance (DNFP) meets French and European legal obligations, as well as Publicis Groupe’s voluntary commitments in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This reporting is also based on international frameworks such as the GRI standards (see paragraph on Standards in Section 4.6 of this chapter) and meets the expectations of investors and shareholders, employees, clients and other stakeholders.
This chapter forms the basis of non-financial reporting and brings together Publicis Groupe’s key CSR information and indicators. Examples of the actions and initiatives implemented in the agencies are given. A larger number of illustrations can be found on the Groupe’s corporate website www.publicisgroupe.com (CSR Section). A dynamic table of environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators, cross-referencing with other standards, is also available on the corporate website (CSR Section) under the heading CSR Smart data.
The DNFP is made up of a number of factors included in this document, denoted as follows:
- background information on segment trends or the general outlook, as well as on the business model and value-creation components, are presented in the introduction with key financial figures and non-financial indicators;
- the Groupe’s strategy and activities are presented in more detail in Chapter 1;
- the risk factors are presented in order of priority in Chapter 2. Non-financial risks are also addressed in the form of CSR issues in this chapter. Human rights and environmental risks are presented in Section 4.2.4, with the aim of complying with duty of care requirements. As part of the Groupe’s Climate strategy, the work carried out on these risks is presented in Section 4.3;
- the Groupe’s governance is presented in Chapter 3;
- the consolidated financial statements are in Chapter 6;
- a specific DNFP cross-referencing table can be found at the end of this chapter.
The methodology and processes in place for CSR reporting and the DNFP are explained in Section 4.6. In accordance with French and European regulations, the verification report by external independent auditors Grant Thornton can be found at the end of this chapter, in Section 4.8.
ESG governance
- Since 2021, an ESG Committee of the Supervisory Board (see Section 3.1.2.7 of this document) is dedicated to the review of ESG issues. The Chair of the ESG Committee, Suzan LeVine, reports on the work of the Committee to the Supervisory Board.
- The ESG Committee met twice in 2022 (see Section 3.2.1.9). Each meeting provided an opportunity to review regulatory news in France, at European Community level and abroad, to analyze the Company’s compliance with new and future requirements, and to explore various topics and projects related to the Groupe’s ESG strategy and pillars.
- The members of the ESG Committee are kept regularly informed of the progress of ongoing projects through discussions with the Chairman of the Management Board and the Secretary General.
- Within the Management Board, ESG topics are the responsibility of the Groupe’s Secretary General, (see Section 3.1).
- The variable compensation of the Chairman of the Management Board, the members of the Management Board and the Directoire +, as well as the Management Committee includes two medium-term CSR/ESG criteria with short-term transition points. The first in terms of diversity, with the increase in the number of women to 45% by 2025 in the Groupe’s key management positions; the second in terms of the environment and climate with the switch to 100% renewable energy from direct sources before 2030.
- The Groupe’s CSR/ESG Department reports to the Groupe’s Secretary General; this team is in charge of preparing and rolling out the ESG strategy, Groupe projects and policies as well as non-financial reporting. It is based on the CSR Steering Committee, in place since 2015 and bringing together the Corporate Departments: Legal, Finance and Information Systems, HR Operations, Procurement, Shared Services (IT, Real Estate, etc.). It also relies on other ad hoc working Groupes (see CSR risk management section).
- In agencies and countries, the operational deployment of CSR actions is conducted under the direction of local management, and priority actions are implemented by their dedicated CSR or CSR Project/Sustainability teams. Not to mention the local Re:Sources teams, for the support functions in the shared services centers. It is important to highlight the very large number of employees volunteering to initiate new initiatives and innovate in their daily professional practices.
