About our report
Ensuring transparent reporting to stakeholders
As in previous years, the 2020 Sustainable Development Report is focused on serving the information and disclosure needs of broader society, regulators and partners. However, as providers of financial capital (and especially large institutional investors and third-party analysts) require increasing transparency and disclosure on environmental, social and governance performance, the Sustainable Development Report includes key information for these stakeholders or directs them to applicable information across Discovery’s suite of reports.
Discovery is developing a revised sustainable development framework, with disclosures in this report aligned to the revised framework.
This report no longer includes a downloadable summary report of the full Sustainable Development Report. However, a downloadable report of supplementary environmental, social and governance information is available for readers. This includes disclosures on our efforts to adopt and report against the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.
Boundary and scope
This report is focused on the social impacts of our business against our strategic objective to be a powerful force for social good. Disclosures and information are for the 2020 financial year ending 30 June 2020, unless specified otherwise.
Non-financial information and data included in this report relates primarily to our South Africa-based business units, which account for the majority of the Group’s revenue and employees. We also include commentary on specific initiatives in the United Kingdom through Vitality UK and some broader Group-wide initiatives.
Stakeholders can access additional information about the Group’s strategy, performance and prospects, stakeholder engagement and risk management in our 2020 Integrated Annual Report.
Detail on our governance philosophy, leadership, and our compliance with the King IV™ Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa, 2016 is available in the 2020 Governance Report.
Frameworks and indices used to guide the Sustainable Development Report preparation
FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment index
MSCI ESG Index: B rating
CDP (previously named the Carbon Disclosure Project): C for the 2019 reporting cycle (Measured on a scale from A to D, a level C rating indicates an awareness of climate related issues)
Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures
Note: Discovery does not currently report in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Reporting Standards but uses them as a guide to inform disclosures and key indicators. Discovery continues to mature its sustainable development data collection, reporting and assurance processes to align with stakeholder information requirements.
Reporting for Discovery’s key stakeholder groups
Discovery recognises that the quality of our engagements with stakeholders is key to creating value over the long term. Therefore, we conduct regular assessments, using internal mechanisms, to ensure that we meet the expectations of our stakeholders.
Our Stakeholder Engagement Framework sets out our strategic approach and seeks to align this approach, as well as the management of stakeholder engagement, to the applicable principles of the King IV™ Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa, 2016.
For an overview of our key stakeholder relationships, see the 2020 Integrated Annual Report
Board responsibilities
To ensure that our disclosure focuses on sustainable development issues that are significant to Discovery's business and stakeholders, the Social and Ethics Committee approves the structure of this report, and reviews and provides input on its content prior to publication.
The Social and Ethics Committee is satisfied that this 2020 Sustainable Development Report, together with the 2020 Integrated Annual Report and 2020 Governance Report, provides a comprehensive and accurate view of Discovery's sustainable development performance for the past financial year and an outlook for the year ahead.
Approval was provided following review by the Social and Ethics Committee, an assessment of content by Group Internal Audit, and the recommendation of the Discovery Audit Committee.