56
Non-Financial Indicators Handbook -
2013
-
VIVENDI
Verification of Non-Financial Data
7
Independent Statutory Auditors’ report on consolidated societal, social and environmental information presented
in the management report
2.
Limited assurance on CSR Information
■
Nature and scope of the work
We undertook seven interviews at the consolidated entity level with
the people responsible for the preparation of the CSR Information in
the CSR, HR, and Ethics departments, in charge of the data collection
process and, if applicable, the people responsible for internal control
processes and risk management, in order to:
assess the suitability of the Criteria for reporting, in relation
to their relevance, completeness, reliability, neutrality, and
understandability, taking into consideration, if relevant, industry
standards;
verify the implementation of the process for the collection,
compilation, processing and control for completeness and
consistency of the CSR Information and identify the procedures for
internal control and risk management related to the preparation of
the CSR Information.
We determined the nature and extent of our tests and inspections based
on the nature and importance of the CSR Information, in relation to the
characteristics of the Company, its social and environmental issues,
its strategy in relation to sustainable development and industry best
practices.
For the CSR Information which we considered the most important
(3)
:
at the level of the consolidated entity and of a selection of business
units
(4)
, we consulted documentary sources and conducted
interviews to corroborate the qualitative information (organisation,
policies, actions, etc.), we implemented analytical procedures
on the quantitative information and verified, on a test basis, the
calculations and the compilation of the information, and also
verified their coherence and consistency with the other information
presented in the management report;
at the level of the representative selection of business unit and
operational entities that we selected
(5)
, based on their activity, their
contribution to the consolidated indicators, their location and a risk
analysis, we undertook about fifteen interviews to verify the correct
application of the procedures and undertook detailed tests on the
basis of samples, consisting in verifying the calculations made and
linking them with supporting documentation. The sample selected
regarding social information therefore represented on average 42%
of the total workforce and the one selected regarding environmental
information represented between 8% and 65% of the quantitative
environmental information
(6)
.
For the other consolidated CSR information, we assessed their
consistency in relation to our knowledge of the Company.
Finally, we assessed the relevance of the explanations provided,
if appropriate, in the partial or total absence of certain information.
We consider that the sample methods and sizes of the samples that we
considered by exercising our professional judgment allow us to express
a limited assurance conclusion; an assurance of a higher level would
have required more extensive verification work. Due to the necessary
use of sampling techniques and other limitations inherent in the
functioning of any information and internal control system, the risk of
non-detection of a significant anomaly in the CSR Information cannot be
entirely eliminated.
■
Conclusion
Based on our work, we have not identified any significant misstatement
that causes us to believe that the CSR Information, taken together, has
not been fairly presented, in compliance with the Criteria.
■
Observations
Without qualifying our conclusion above, we draw your attention to the
following points:
the controls performed at business units’ level on social data, in
particular at UMG, and on environmental data, in particular at GVT,
do not include sufficient consistency tests. Significant adjustments
were indeed needed on the environmental data reported by GVT.
(3)
Societal information
: Youth protection and empowerment, cultural diversity promotion, digital divide reduction, allocation of the value produced, the number of employees
by country or area (France, Brazil, Africa), consideration of CSR issues in the purchase policy and in the relations with suppliers and subcontractors, existence of a formal
commitment to protect personal data, number of measurements of electromagnetic fields near cell towers.
Social information
: Total headcount and it’s breakdown by gender, age and geographic area, hiring and departures by motive, global policy regarding occupational health
and safety.
Environmental information
: Energy consumptions and greenhouse gas emissions, prevention of waste production, recycling and disposal of waste (WEEE).
(4)
UMG, Canal+ Group, GVT.
(5)
The entities selected are the London Kensington and Berlin (UMG), Curitiba (GVT), and “Arc-en-Seine” and “Lumières” (Canal+) sites for the environmental indicators; UMG
UK, Canal+ UES (economic and employee unit), Canal+ Overseas and GVT (Brazil) for the social indicators; and the three selected business units for the societal indicators.
(6)
The coverage of the main quantitative indicators are of: 8% for electricity consumption, 9% for professional WEEE, 25% for household WEEE, 65% for CO
2
emissions related
to mobile sources and 23% for CO
2
emissions related to business travels.
Paris-La Défense, March 17, 2014
French original signed by
one of the Statutory Auditors
ERNST & YOUNG et Autres
Jean-Yves Jégourel
Eric Mugnier
Partner
CSR Expert
