Materiality is the extent that a given element of the Company-stakeholder relationship can influence the capacity to create value.
These are the two characteristics that need to be considered to assess the materiality of an element of the Company’s business:
- does it produce significant impacts from a financial, social or environmental point of view?
- does it substantially influence stakeholder assessments or decisions relating to the Company?
Determining the material aspects of the Company-stakeholder relationship is not only important solely from a point of view of identifying which topics of value should be included in the sustainability report, but also to establish what are the key areas governing the stakeholder relationship which will deliver long-lasting sustainability in terms of its financial and competitive value to the Company.
To be able to make an assessment relating to the materiality of an element, it is necessary to start from the broadest recognizable range of factors that determine the features of the Company’s relationship with its audience. In defining materiality, strong emphasis is placed on both external stakeholders and members of management representative of the SEA Group, given that their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account as an important reference point.
Through a joint Company-stakeholders assessment of the relevance of these factors in terms of impact on their mutual point of view, as well as their usefulness, a range of items are defined that constitute the areas of primary commitment for sustainable development.