Impact assessments
The impact assessment process is an integral part of the overall risk management process in Equinor.
Governance & risk
At Equinor, our approach to sustainability is embedded in how we work. This includes our corporate governance principles, performance framework and management system. These elements are described in the Equinor book, available here.
Governance
The Corporate Executive Committee and Equinor ASA Board of Directors (BoD) review and monitor sustainability issues, including climate-related business risks and opportunities and climate and sustainability aspects related to investment decisions.
The BoD Safety, Sustainability and Ethics Committee assists the BoD in its supervision of the company’s sustainability policies, systems and principles. This includes regular reviews of sustainability risk issues and sustainability performance and review of the sustainability report.
The Corporate Risk Committee, consisting of leaders representing business areas and corporate functions, regularly oversees enterprise risk, including climate-related risks. The committee reviews and proposes mitigating measures as part of regular risk updates to the chief financial officer, the corporate executive committee and the board of directors.
Corporate functions responsible for sustainability-related issues include safety and security, sustainability, people and leadership and legal. The heads of these functions are responsible for setting strategic direction and reporting on risk and performance at group level within these topics to the corporate executive committee and board of directors, including relevant committees.
The Corporate Sustainability Function is responsible for overseeing climate change (including climate-related risk), environment, human rights and social issues, and the function head reports to the executive vice president for Global Strategy and Business Development. The Corporate Safety Function is responsible for safety, security, health and work environment, and the function head reports to the chief operating officer. The Chief Compliance Officer is responsible for business ethics and compliance and reports to the senior vice president for Legal.
Executing the company’s sustainability ambitions is a business line responsibility, and sustainability issues are regularly discussed by the Corporate Executive Committee.
Performance framework
The performance framework translates our vision, values and strategy into actions and results. We measure progress and results in an holistic way, using key performance indicators when relevant. We have sustainability targets and indicators in place to measure progress and incentivise performance across the company.
Risk and impact management
Risk and impact management is an integrated part of all our business processes. We take our stakeholder’s perspectives into consideration when assessing and managing risks and impacts. An open dialogue with potentially affected communities and other interest groups and a holistic and balanced view are key elements in our risk management process. Our values inform the way we manage risks to avoid incidents and create long term value for Equinor, our shareholders and society at large.
Relevant health, safety, security and security risks, and environmental and social risk factors are identified at each decision point in our business processes, from early phase business opportunity identification to drilling wells and producing hydrocarbons, to abandonment and removal of facilities.
An integrated environmental and social impact management process helps us to identify the source and nature of potentially adverse and beneficial environmental, climate, social and economic impacts for Equinor and our stakeholders. Based on this, we develop plans to manage potential adverse impacts and benefits. It is one of the company's main tools for informing sustainable performance. More information about our impact assessments is found here.
Human rights due diligence is integrated in the company's general systems for assessing and managing risks and impacts. In countries or contexts in which exposure to human rights breaches are particularly significant, dedicated human rights assessments may be carried out. Human rights are addressed as a part of our standard integrity due diligence (IDD) research of third parties with whom we may enter a business relationship.
