Attracting and retaining top talent remains a priority for Greif, and motivated and engaged colleagues are the foundation of our success. We are dedicated to cultivating a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion where every colleague feels engaged and valued. In 2021, we expanded our Colleague Resource Groups (CRG) to provide support in personal and career development and to foster a more inclusive culture. In addition, we conducted our fourth annual colleague survey to assess the state of our workforce’s engagement and motivation. Results were exceptional – our colleague engagement survey received a 91 percent response rate, and Greif ranked in the 90th percentile of all companies measured in Gallup’s global manufacturing database.

Following our Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) gap analysis and the announcement of our goal to reduce Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions 28 percent by 2030, we gathered leaders from across our business to conduct our climate risk workshop. This workshop—a first for Greif—culminated in the identification of key climate-related risks and opportunities to the business which will be further shared and considered in our enterprise strategy in the year ahead. Findings from the workshops were presented to the CEO, CFO and General Counsel. The Executive Leadership Team will determine how we integrate these risks into our Enterprise Risk Management Process and our business strategies in 2022.

Strong governance ensures we follow a transparent decision-making process that takes the interest of all stakeholders into account. This year, we strengthened our ESG strategy governance structure by implementing quarterly ESG steering committee reviews and integrating ESG data, measurement and tracking into the Greif Business System, capital approval process and enterprise scorecard. Beginning in 2022, we will include ESG data in monthly performance reviews with our Leadership Council.

Our sustainability and ESG initiatives continue to receive external recognition. We were awarded a gold rating from EcoVadis for our fourth consecutive year and earned a B rating on CDP Climate in 2021. Greif was included in Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Responsible Companies. We were also featured in Newsweek’s Most Loved Workplaces list for 2021, ranking number 59 among the top 100 companies, highlighting that our commitment to foster an environment where colleagues can learn, contribute, succeed and perform at their best while doing things The Greif Way is well recognized.

I am immensely proud of all that Greif has accomplished as an organization over my twenty-two-year career with the Company and I am grateful to all Greif colleagues for their excellence and dedication. As I retire, I look forward to my successor and Greif’s next Chief Executive Officer, Ole Rosgaard, growing the value of our company while advancing our sustainability initiatives even further. I know his strategic guidance, passion for team building and extensive experience will prove invaluable to the Company and I am excited for the future of Greif under his committed leadership.

Our report, prepared in full accordance with the GRI Standards Core guidelines and SASB Containers and Packaging standards, serves as our annual Communication on Progress to the United Nations Global Compact.