Report scope

The Sustainability section of the 2019 Annual Report provides information about the progress towards our 2025 Sustainability Goals launched in March of 2018. Together with our corporate website, they provide an update of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s performance on key metrics during the 2019 calendar year.

This chapter, along with the sections on Smart Drinking & Road Safety, Dream-People-Culture (including D&I), Better World, Community Engagement, Workplace Safety and the Business Ethics Description on page 53, as well as the risks on environmental, social, personnel, human rights and anti-bribery matters that are described in the Risks and Uncertainties section of the Management Report section of the 2019 Annual Report, have been established in accordance with the law of September 3, 2017 implementing Directive 2014/95/EU of October 22, 2014 amending Directive 2013/34/ EU regarding disclosure of nonfinancial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups. Together, they form the nonfinancial statement required under the referred law and include an overview of our environmental, social and personnel related matters, as well as human rights and anti-bribery matters. Some of the SDGs in relation to our goals refer to Improved Healthcare, Clean Water and Sanitation, Renewable Energy, Reducing Waste generation, Reduction of GHG Emissions and energy consumption, among others.

Alongside our environmental sustainability, information on Smart Drinking and Road Safety, Workplace Safety, and Business Ethics can be found on pages 39, 40, 41, 52 and 53 of this report. Additional information on volunteering and disaster response is also included in this report (page 42). These sections are intended to provide updates to stakeholders, including investors, employees, governments, NGOs, costumers, and consumers in countries where we operate in.

AB InBev prepared the 2019 report (these chapters and website) using the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) Standards as a guide. To help determine the content developed, a materiality assessment was conducted, which helped identify the key issues that are of most importance to our stakeholders and our company. For more information on our materiality assessment, including Boundary Analysis Table, and GRI Index for this year’s report can be found at www.ab-inbev.com.

Our 2025 Sustainability Goals and overall sustainability agenda aligns with several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations in 2015. Activities throughout our operations and supply chain are aligned to the metrics that are considered the most material to our business and critical to our stakeholders. We are focused on areas where we can make the most significant positive impact.

The data and stories presented on this report were gathered and verified with the assistance of content owners across all functions and geographic zones.

AB InBev has established processes to ensure accurate and consistent reporting of Smart Drinking and Safety, 2025 Sustainability Goals, and Safety performance data, as well as key performance indicators. In the Assurance Report of the Independent Auditor (page 56), and in key places along the report, we have identified which metrics have been externally assured by KPMG. Financial information included has also been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Environmental data from newly acquired operations are excluded from the running cycle. These facilities will be included in future reporting. Safety data is immediately tracked and monitored for all sites and included unless otherwise stated in text or footnotes. For all environmental and safety data, divestitures and closures are removed from the scope for the reporting year, but prior years are not adjusted.

Global goals on water, energy purchased, and greenhouse gas emissions presented in this section, as well as key performance indicators such as energy usage, include AB InBev’s wholly-owned operations unless stated otherwise in text or footnotes. Energy usage and purchased excludes the energy exported to third parties and certain projects under construction. The excluded energy use and purchase does not reflect the amount of energy used in our beer brewing processes.

For recycled content calculation, a weighted average of recycled content is calculated based on purchases for each supplier and recycled content in the material. Data on recycled content percentage is provided by suppliers and tracked on a regular basis. Packaging purchases are derived from AB InBev’s owned procurement system. Recycled content percentages are obtained from our suppliers. In 2019 we started with suppliers audits to assess reliability of the provided data. In the following years, we will enhance the number of supplier audits to guarantee reliability of the data.

In the scope of our reported Sustainability goals, both our beverage and vertical operations are included in addition to our Scope 3 emissions regarding information beyond our operations and that impact our supply chain with exception of the KPIs on energy and water usage and the KPI on Scope 1+2 emissions per hectoliter of production (in kg CO2/hl)”, as the relative KPI regarding scope 1 and 2 emissions also excludes vertical operations. For our beverage and vertical operations, including malting and packaging facilities use our Voyager Plant Optimization (VPO) global management system. This data is reported annually to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). Specific data tables contain footnotes for additional data. Scope 3 emissions are estimated values based on a mix of own and third party data and total percentage follows the Science Based Target Initiative, where at least 66% of emissions are to be included in target scope. Approximately 50% of Scope 3 data is own data and data provided by suppliers via the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). CDP data is used to calculate supplier-based emissions of raw and packaging materials used in the manufacturing of beer. A hybrid approach, that has been validated by the Science Based Target Initiative and the Carbon Disclosure Project is used, which entails a mix of own data, supplier data, and market estimates. Scope 3 includes the following out of the 15 categories: Purchased Goods and Services, Upstream and Downstream Distribution, Use of Product (Product Cooling including on and off premise but excluding home cooling), and End of Life. Categories excluded include: Capital Goods, Waste generated in operations (more than 98% of waste generated is recycled), Business Travel, Employee Commuting, Upstream and Downstream leased assets, Processing of sold products, Franchises, Investments. These categories represent approximately less than 20% of total Scope 3 emissions.

This report contains forward-looking statements regarding estimations into the future. These generally include words and/ or phrases such as “will likely result”, “aims to”, “will continue”, “Is anticipated”, “it is estimated”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “project”, “result”, “is predicted”, “may”, “might”, “could”, “believe”, “expect”, “plan”, “potential”, or other similar expressions. These statements are subject to uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those stated in this report due to, but not limited, impact to climate change, water stress, financial distress, negative publicity, our availability to hire and/or retain the best talent, emerging regulations, and reputation of our brands, the ability to make acquisitions and/or divest divisions, access to capital, volatility in the stock market, exposure to litigation, and other associated risks not mentioned as well as risks identified in our Form-20 led with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Additional information about AB InBev’s climate and water risks, management and performance of such is available through CDP.

Limited Assurance Reportof the Independent Auditor

To the readers of the Anheuser-Bush InBev 2019 Annual Report

Introduction

We were engaged to provide limited assurance on the following information in the Anheuser-Busch InBev 2019 Annual Report (hereafter ‘the Selected Information’) of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (hereafter ‘AB InBev’) based in Leuven, Belgium:

  • Water Use by Hectoliter of Production and Total Water Use (page 37)
  • Total Energy purchased and Energy purchased per Hectoliter of Production (page 37)
  • Percentage of purchased electricity from renewable sources (page 37)
  • Total Direct and Indirect GHG Emissions and GHG Emissions per Hectoliter of Production (page 37)
  • Total GHG Emissions (Scope 1, 2 and 3 Emissions) and total GHG Emissions (scope 1, 2 and 3 Emissions) per Hectoliter of Production (page 37)
  • Percentage of returnable primary packaging (page 37)
  • Percentage of recycled content in primary packaging (page 37)
  • Lost Time Injuries (LTI) – Supply Employees (own), Second Tier and Sales Employees (page 52)
  • Total Recordable Injuries (TRI) – Supply Employees (own) (page 52)
  • Fatalities (page 52)

The information reviewed as part of our limited assurance engagement has been indicated throughout the 2019 Annual Report with the symbol ‘A’.

Conclusion

Based on our procedures performed and evidence obtained, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the Selected Information is not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the applied reporting criteria as disclosed in the section ‘Report Scope’ on page 54 in the 2019 Annual Report.

Basis for our conclusion

We have performed our review on the Selected Information in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000: “Assurance Engagements other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information”, issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board.

This review engagement is aimed at obtaining a limited level of assurance. Our responsibilities under this standard are further described in the section ‘Our responsibilities for the review of the Selected Information’ of our report.

Our conclusion has been formed on the basis of, and is subject to, the matters outlined in this report.

We believe that the evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our conclusion.

Responsibilities of the Board of Directors for the Selected Information

The Board of Directors of AB InBev is responsible for the preparation of the Selected Information in accordance with the applied reporting criteria as described in the section ‘Report Scope’ on page 54 in the 2019 Annual Report, including the identification of stakeholders and the definition of material matters. The choices made by the Board of Directors of AB InBev regarding the scope of the information in the 2019 Annual Report and the reporting policy are summarized in the section ‘Report Scope’ on page 54 in the 2019 Annual Report.

The Board of Directors is also responsible for such internal control as the Board of Directors determines is necessary to enable the preparation of the Selected Information that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Our responsibilities for the review of the Selected Information

Our responsibility is to carry out a limited assurance engagement and to express a conclusion based on the work performed. We conducted our engagement in accordance with International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000, Assurance Engagements other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information, issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. That Standard requires that we plan and perform the engagement to obtain limited assurance about whether the Selected Information is free from material misstatement.

Procedures performed in an assurance engagement to obtain a limited level of assurance are aimed to determine the plausibility of information and are less extensive than a reasonable assurance engagement. The level of assurance obtained in limited assurance engagements is therefore substantially less than the level of assurance obtained in a reasonable assurance engagements.

Misstatements can arise from fraud or errors and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the decisions of users taken on the basis of the Selected Information. The materiality affects the nature, timing and extent of our review procedures and the evaluation of the effect of identified misstatements on our conclusion.

We apply the International Standard on Quality Control 1 and accordingly maintain a comprehensive system of quality control including documented policies and procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

We have complied with the independence and other ethical requirements of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants issued by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants, which is founded on fundamental principles of integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour.

We have exercised professional judgement and have maintained professional scepticism throughout the review, in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000, ethical requirements and independence requirements.

Procedures performed

Our limited assurance engagement on the Selected Information consists of making inquiries, primarily of persons responsible for the preparation of the Selected Information, and applying analytical and other evidence gathering procedures, as appropriate. These procedures included, among others:

  • Identifying areas of the Selected Information where material misstatements are likely to arise, designing and performing limited assurance procedures responsive to those areas, and obtaining assurance evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our conclusion;
  • Developing an understanding of internal control relevant to the limited assurance engagement in order to design assurance procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing a conclusion on the effectiveness of the company’s internal control;
  • Evaluating the appropriateness of the reporting criteria used and their consistent application, including the reasonableness of estimates made by management and related disclosures to the Selected information;
  • Interviewing relevant staff responsible for providing the information for, carrying out internal control procedures on the Selected Information and consolidating the data in the 2019 Annual Report;
  • Visits to seven production sites in South-Africa, Brazil (two sites), China, Russia, the United States of America and Peru aimed at, on a local level, validating source data and evaluating the design and implementation of internal control and validation procedures;
  • Reviewing relevant internal and external documentation, on a limited test basis, in order to determine the reliability of the Selected Information;
  • Preliminary and final analytical review procedures to confirm our understanding of trends in the Selected Information at site and corporate level.


Antwerp, 27 February 2020

KPMG Bedrijfsrevisoren CVBA


Mike Boonen
Partner