ESG Priorities & Stakeholder Engagement

We seek to center our strategy, investments, internal and external engagement, and reporting on the priority environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics that we believe are the most relevant to our business and our stakeholders across our value chain.

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An illustration of a cityscape with hands holding three icons related to ESG topics.

Our approach

We engage with a diverse group of stakeholders around the world, including the people who manufacture the products we sell, the team members who welcome our guests, the communities we work in, the nonprofits that we work with and the investors who make our work possible. We use their valued perspectives to inform our approach to systemic change.

Through these collaborations, we are working toward co-creating an equitable and regenerative future.

We aim to center our business strategy, investments, engagement and reporting on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics that are most important to our business and our stakeholders across our value chain. As we seek to accelerate our progress — and leverage our size and scale to benefit people, the planet and our business — our ESG priorities guide our actions in a cohesive, compelling and risk-minded manner.

ESG priorities

A globe shape with a leaf at the bottom.

Environmental

Circularity 

  • Product & packaging design 
  • Guest & supplier engagement 
  • Waste elimination & reduction 

Climate  

  • Greenhouse gas emissions 
  • Efficiency & energy management 
  • Climate-related risks & opportunities 
  • Net zero emissions target & reduction strategy 
  • Climate adaptation 

Regenerative Resources 

  • Environmental impacts of products 
  • Responsibly sourced commodities 
  • Materials and resource use  
  • Water use & management  
  • Chemicals 
  • Biodiversity 

Two hands holding the shapes of three people.

Social

Human Capital Management 

  • Labor practices  
  • Compensation & benefits  
  • Employee well-being 
  • Workplace health & safety  
  • Talent & development  
  • Non-discrimination 

Serving Communities  

  • Community impact 
  • Product quality & safety 
  • Responsible marketing 
  • Economic opportunity  
  • Employment 
  • Access to products & services 

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion  

  • Board and workplace diversity 
  • Elevating equity in communities and supply chains 

A gear surrounded by icons of people, a shield with checkmark, a truck and a storefront.

Governance

Ethical Business  

  • Transparency & reporting  
  • Government advocacy 
  • Privacy & cybersecurity  

Responsible Supply Chains  

  • Purchasing practices  
  • Traceability & sustainability  
  • Human rights  
  • Forced labor 

The ESG priorities identified and categorized in this assessment are increasingly interconnected and can often impact each other. As such, they should not be viewed in isolation.

Stakeholder engagement

The following is an overview of our stakeholder engagement during fiscal year 2021. This is an illustrative list of topics discussed.

Civil society organizations

How we engage

  • Collaborations to advance shared priorities.
  • Community dialogues.
  • Contributions through community partnerships and volunteerism.
  • Memberships and coalitions.
  • Participation in conferences and forums.
  • Philanthropic investments.
  • Select topical engagement.
  • Strategic relationships and consultation on priority issues.

Topics raised

  • Board and workplace diversity.
  • Climate-related risks and opportunities.
  • Community impact.
  • Economic opportunity.
  • Efficiency and energy management.
  • Elevating equity in supply chains and communities.
  • Environmental impacts of products.
  • Greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Human rights.
  • Labor practices.
  • Materials and resource use.
  • Net zero emissions target and reduction strategy.
  • Philanthropy.
  • Product and packaging design.
  • Workplace health and safety.

Our response

  • Continue our iterative learning process through engagement and collaborations to guide our strategy — including goal-setting—on our ESG priorities.
  • Focused linvestments, philanthropy, human and in-kind support in communities Target serves, including across our stores, global supply chain and logistics facilities and headquarters offices in the U.S. and India, and in our sourcing communities.

Guests

How we engage

  • A Bullseye View website and newsletter.
  • Face-to-face interactions in our stores.
  • Focus groups.
  • Guest insights.
  • Guest services and team member direct interactions.
  • In-store marketing.
  • Online polling.
  • Receipt-to-online guest satisfaction surveys.
  • Social media monitoring and engagement.
  • Target Circle loyalty program.

Topics raised

  • Community impact.
  • Elevating equity in supply chains and communities.
  • Environmental impacts of products.
  • Materials and packaging.
  • Non-discrimination.
  • Product and packaging design.
  • Responsible marketing.

Our response

  • Elevate and expand how we share our inclusivity and sustainability work in stores and through our digital channels. 
  • Increase access to inclusive and sustainable products and experiences through new and enhanced store and digital channels.
  • Offer our guests the opportunity to direct our giving funds locally and nationally.

Government officials & influencers of public policy

How we engage

  • Letters and written or verbal testimony.
  • Meetings with elected officials and other policy influencers.
  • Participation in conferences and forums.
  • Store and facility tours.
  • Trade associations and policy-based organizations.

Topics raised

  • Climate-related risks and opportunities.
  • Community impact.
  • Employment.
  • Labor practices.
  • Marketplace transparency and organized retail crime.
  • Packaging.
  • Payments.
  • Privacy and cybersecurity.
  • Product quality and safety.
  • Taxes.
  • Traceability and sustainability.
  • Trade.
  • Trademarks.

Our response

  • Enterprise-wide intake and assessment of salient policy issues.
  • Advocate at all levels of government to help shape constructive policy solutions that impact our team members, business, guests, industry and communities.

Investors

How we engage

  • Annual meeting of shareholders. 
  • Financial community meeting. 
  • Participation in conferences and forums.  
  • Periodic engagements.
  • Quarterly earnings conference calls. 

Topics raised

  • Board and workplace diversity.
  • Civic activity.
  • Community impact. 
  • Compensation and benefits. 
  • Corporate governance.
  • Elevating equity in supply chains and communities.
  • Environmental impacts.
  • Financial performance.
  • Human capital management.
  • Human rights.
  • Labor practices.
  • Our response to COVID-19.
  • Philanthropy.
  • Privacy and cybersecurity.
  • Transparency and reporting.

Our response

  • Increase traceability and transparency of social and environmental strategy and associated investments, including expanding key data disclosures.
  • Responding to the following frameworks in our annual ESG Report: Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework (UNGPRF) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Team members

How we engage

  • Community engagement through volunteering and civic participation.
  • Daily e-newsletter, team and all-company meetings, social media, speaker series.
  • Employee resource groups, diversity action committees and affinity networks.
  • Executive leadership emails and videos.
  • Focus groups and listening sessions.
  • Inclusion acumen training and toolkit resources.
  • Integrity Hotline.
  • Multi-channel listening program (annual, weekly and topical surveys).
  • Personal and professional development and training.

Topics raised

  • Compensation and benefits.
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) strategy.
  • Employee well-being.
  • Nonpartisan voter information and resources.
  • Philanthropy.
  • Strategic progress and business goals.
  • Talent and development.
  • Target Forward, Target’s sustainability strategy.
  • Team member to team member support, including Team Member Giving Fund.
  • Workplace health and safety.

Our response

  • Give our team members equitable opportunities to grow professionally in their careers; take care of themselves, each other and their families; and make a positive impact on our guests and our local communities.
  • Extend opportunities for team member engagement. 
  • Expand the metrics and information we share externally, including wages, benefits and diversity, to enhance our transparency and accountability.

Vendors

How we engage

All vendors

  • Business Partner Code of Conduct.
  • Capability building.
  • Standards of Vendor Engagement (SOVE).
  •  Trainings and workshops.
  •  Vendor portal.

Merchandise vendors

  • Annual assessment.
  • Annual meeting.
  • Regular ongoing meeting.
  • Topical calls as requested.
  • Vendor think tank.

Topics raised

  • Elevating equity in supply chains and communities.
  • Human rights.
  • Labor practices.
  • Materials and resource use.
  • Material traceability.
  • Product and packaging design.
  • Setting and measuring science-based targets.
  • Transparency and reporting.

Our response

  • Help our vendors strengthen their social and environmental performance through programs and capability building, and advise them on establishing and executing grievance mechanisms and monitoring performance. 
  • Make training and guidebook available in multiple languages on our expectations for supply chain human rights, ethical business and environmental standards. 
  • Support our vendors’ ability to meet responsible design and material commitments.  
  • Engage vendor think tank to address challenges and cultivate new ideas. 

In our ESG Report and the ESG disclosures on our website, we report against topics that are very important to our business and our stakeholders. For purposes of our ESG Report and those website disclosures, we use the Global Reporting Initiative’s definition of materiality, which is different than the definition used for filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Issues deemed material for purposes of our ESG Report and those website disclosures may not be considered material for SEC reporting purposes.

Issue advocacy

We engage with policymakers about many legislative issues, and advocate at all levels of government.

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Team members & guests

Target is committed to equitable experiences for team members and guests, and promotes diversity and inclusion as part of our purpose to bring joy to all.

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Investor relations

Target embraces innovation to drive strong financial performance and create new opportunities for profitable growth.

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Suppliers

Target works closely with suppliers around the world, together delivering value to our guests while strengthening communities where we do business.

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