Sands ESG Report Demonstrates Accountability, Transparency
With the release of the 2020 Environmental, Social and Governance Report (ESG), Sands is continuing to fulfill our commitment to our communities, guests and Team Members to not only operate the world’s premier resort destinations, but to be accountable and transparent in regards to our efforts to safeguard our communities. The report focuses on our commitments to our core corporate responsibility pillars – to our People, our Communities and our Planet – and also to our dedication to operating according to sound governance policies.
Hand-in-hand with our corporate responsibility commitment is a company culture deeply rooted in transparency to our stakeholders and accountability for our actions. Guided by a strong system of governance, we ensure both a responsible approach to managing our business and that our environmental and social initiatives are interwoven into our business practices. Our governance initiatives provide the foundation for how we manage our commitment to the planet, our local communities and the people who visit, support and work at our resorts.
With high standards for transparency and accountability, we maintain a strong corporate governance system to ensure the health of our business, maintain the confidence of our stakeholders, enable purposeful decision-making and manage risk. Our corporate governance practices have been developed with risk management as a top priority and leverage a system of internal control that reflects the company’s overall strategy, operational considerations and corporate culture.
Our focus on governance in 2020 included continuation of our robust onboarding and training program for directors focusing on specific items impacting our destination resort operations. We also recruited two additional female directors for our Board. Additionally, 100% of our Board committee members are independent, and all of our directors are subject to annual reelection.
Another crucial part of our commitment to good governance practice is our focus on supply chain management. Our responsible supply chain process includes three phases of supplier engagement: onboarding, risk monitoring and performance evaluation and relationship management. Before a supplier is cleared to do business with Sands, we conduct a stringent assessment for suitability via our third-party due diligence process. To ensure suppliers meet our standards, our supplier management team visits select suppliers to review their performance and detect signs of violations. And to monitor performance, we conduct multiple types of ongoing supplier audits. All of this has resulted in 100% of our suppliers screened and aligned with our Supplier Code of Conduct.
Additionally, a full 97% of our suppliers were fully conformed with our Supplier Code of Conduct in 2020. Regionally, 91% of our procurement spend in Singapore at Marina Bay Sands was through local Singaporean businesses. And in Macao, 499 suppliers at our Sands China Ltd. Properties for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with $287,729,450 procurement spend with SMEs in Macao in 2020.
Guided by the standards and requirements set by our Board of Directors, components of our governance approach include the oversight framework for our ESG initiatives; corporate governance, transparency and risk management practices; and supply chain management. Read the full report now to learn more.
