Our Material Topics and Stakeholders
Our ESG Materiality1 Assessment Process
Material ESG topics, in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, represent an organization’s most significant impacts on the economy, environment and people, including impacts on human rights. During 2022, we collaborated with a third-party consultant to refresh the Whirlpool Corp. list of material ESG topics by engaging with internal and external stakeholders, consulting third-party sources and considering all frameworks, trends and regulatory developments to prioritize the topics by significance of impact.2
Periodic Assessment With External Advisor
Assess the Universe
of ESG Topics:
Gather input from company materials, global ESG standards, frameworks and regulations, peer and industry leader reports and our external advisory team.
Obtain Feedback & Prioritize:
Conduct interviews and surveys with internal and external stakeholders and assess industry guidance to narrow the list of possible topics based on our ability to influence and drive impact.
Review Changes & Finalize:
Key functional and regional leadership and subject matter experts review, validate and finalize the prioritization of ESG material topics.
Ongoing Internal Assessment
Ongoing Monitoring:
Continuously monitor changes and drive improvement on high-impact areas through engagement with our ESG Task Force.
Engage Leadership:
Assess emerging issues and shifts in issue prioritization through engagement with ESG Councils and key Executive Committee members.
Through the Whirlpool ESG Task Force, we monitor industry trends, regulatory developments and emerging issues. This is supplemented by our engagement with our stakeholders and assessment of external frameworks such as the GRI Standards, Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), CDP and the UN SDGs. We regularly assess the risks and opportunities of emerging issues and have formally integrated ESG topics into our Enterprise Risk Assessment survey. As we navigate the rapidly evolving and complex space of ESG frameworks, standards and guidelines, we continue ongoing dialogue and engagement with our stakeholders to understand and address impacts, risks and opportunities as they relate to material ESG issues.
| Sustainable Products and Operations | Supporting Our People |
Doing the Right Thing |
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Engaging With Our Stakeholders
We want to know which ESG topics matter most to our business and to our stakeholders so we can be in a better position to understand and address impacts, risks and opportunities. Through formal and informal methods, we reach out to our employees, leaders, suppliers, trade customers, consumers, investors and other key stakeholders for feedback in addition to our formal ESG materiality assessment process. Through our engagement with stakeholders, we aim to seek diverse perspectives and foster an environment where we take the time to listen first, be present and strive to make others feel welcomed, valued, heard and respected.
1 Materiality, as used in this report, and our ESG materiality assessment process is different from the definition used in the context of filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
2 Per GRI 3: Material Topics 2021 at globalreporting.org.
3 Materiality, as used in this report, and our ESG materiality assessment process is different from the definition used in the context of filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
