Our CSR commitments - Descours & Cabaud

Over 240 Years of Commitment to Responsibility

As a family-owned group rooted in the spirit of entrepreneurship, we have been building the future for over 240 years by creating value for our customers, for people, and for communities, in line with our retail operations.

For our stakeholders (customers, employees, and suppliers) and for ourselves, we are mobilizing our strengths to make our Group a leading partner in sustainable development and CSR. We offer solutions that address our customers’ needs and sustainability challenges.

To support our ambitions, we are implementing our roadmap, titled Positive Program, which drives DESCOURS & CABAUD’s CSR policies and actions.

THE 4 PILLARS OF OUR POSITIVE PROGRAM

be our clients' CSR partner

By offering environmentally responsible solutions and supporting their own sustainability efforts.

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manage the environmental impact of our business

By seeking out and implementing sustainable practices that conserve resources.

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act as a responsible employer

By putting our employees at the heart of our priorities.

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rely on committed leadership

By ensuring that our decisions and actions are guided by the values of responsibility and ethics.

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Our reference materials

be our clients’ CSR partner

At DESCOURS & CABAUD, we view CSR challenges as opportunities for shared success.
As such, we act as a liaison for our clients’ CSR needs, particularly in the area of procurement.

Get a glimpse of our CSR initiatives in our magazine Initiatives

5,000 products in the “Responsible Selection” line
that highlight manufacturers’ social and environmental efforts

LISTENING TO OUR CUSTOMERS

We regularly survey our customers to gather their feedback on the quality of our services and how their needs are changing.

HELPING OUR CUSTOMERS MAKE THE RIGHT PRODUCT CHOICES

By implementing a Responsible Selection initiative aimed at evaluating, identifying, and promoting products whose manufacturers are committed to greater transparency regarding their manufacturing processes.

BUILDING A SUPPLY CHAIN ALIGNED WITH CSR CHALLENGES

By encouraging our teams and partners to adopt responsible practices.

PROMOTING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

By promoting circularity in our operations—through eco-design and the incorporation of recycled materials into our products, as well as refurbished offerings (power tools, pool robots, pumps, etc.)—and by contributing to the recycling of products we bring to market.

RECOGNIZED CSR PERFORMANCE

In terms of CSR, DESCOURS & CABAUD was ranked by EcoVadis in January 2025 among the top 6% of the highest-performing companies in its industry. All assessed criteria were rated at the “advanced” performance level.

Every day, we put our performance and our CSR commitments to work in support of our clients’ projects and ambitions.

Jérôme Gauliard

Group CSR Director

Managing the environmental impact of our business

Environmental sustainability is a challenge we strive to address every day, both in our operations and in our product design, in order to better meet our customers’ expectations.

We are SBTi COMMITTED
across all our operations
worldwide

100% of our teams
OPSIAL and XHANDER
trained in eco-design

REDUCE THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF OUR OPERATIONS

We are taking steps to reduce the environmental impact of our operations by optimizing our facilities, logistics processes, and vehicle fleet, and by entrusting our waste management to specialized partners. In collaboration with our suppliers, we are also working to gain a better understanding of the environmental performance of the products we distribute.

TAKING ACTION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

We measure our carbon emissions, nearly 93% of which are related to products and their distribution. This finding confirms that the bulk of our environmental impact stems from the products we sell and underscores the role of our business units in decarbonization, particularly through the development and provision of lower-carbon solutions.

We have committed our Group to having its decarbonization plan validated by the SBTi.

IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF OUR GROUP BRAND PRODUCTS

Our brands, OPSIAL and XHANDER, are committed to a continuous improvement initiative called GREENER TOGETHER. This initiative is based on two pillars: promoting responsible, ethical practices that respect people, and managing the environmental impact of our products, particularly by incorporating more sustainable materials and reducing packaging.

MINIMIZING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF OUR LOGISTICS OPERATIONS

Our logistics hubs are a key driver of our CSR performance. They ensure the optimization of supply flows from our suppliers to our distribution network. They combine rail, sea, and road transport.

Acting as a responsible employer

The history of DESCOURS & CABAUD is inextricably linked to that of the men and women who have helped ensure the Group’s longevity over the centuries.
Being a responsible employer means, above all, ensuring the safety of every employee and supporting them throughout their career.

120 available courses

More than 50% of our employees
are trained each year

TAKING ACTION TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF OUR TEAMS

By deploying dedicated prevention teams, setting ambitious goals, and conducting awareness campaigns for managers and employees.

IMPROVING THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

By regularly measuring our employees’ satisfaction and engagement, and by implementing action plans to meet their expectations and strengthen their sense of belonging to the company.

DEVELOPING LEARNING AND SKILLS

By offering our teams practical and innovative training tailored to their profiles, needs, and career goals.

Tech’Up is our in-house training organization.

It has been supporting our employees’ careers for over 50 years.

Check out Tech’Up’s anniversary video

COMMITMENT TO GOVERNANCE

At DESCOURS & CABAUD, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a commitment upheld at the highest level.

Our governance framework incorporates these issues and sets out guidelines that serve our clients, our employees, and the Group’s long-term sustainability.

As a signatory to the UN Global Compact, DESCOURS & CABAUD ensures that its approach also contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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Across all its operations, the Group is helping to address the challenges posed by these Sustainable Development Goals.

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By ensuring fair compensation for all our employees.

By creating job opportunities, including for people who have dropped out of school or whose career paths have been interrupted.

By refusing any direct or indirect sourcing from practices that violate fundamental rights, particularly the right to fairly compensated employment.

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By contributing to direct and indirect employment in many countries.

By ensuring that work is fairly compensated, in line with local living conditions and the cost of living.

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By strengthening the safety culture among our employees and their managers.

By working to improve the employee experience.

By taking action to ensure respect for fundamental human rights in our operations and partnerships.

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By supporting our employees’ professional development.

By expanding their knowledge, particularly in the context of their roles.

By creating new opportunities for learning and growth.

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By promoting equal treatment in our employment practices.

By ensuring that our suppliers respect human rights, including the right to gender equality.

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By providing our customers with services, solutions, innovations, products, and engineering expertise that promote efficiency in water and energy management.

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By ensuring that our operations use clean energy.

By incorporating energy efficiency into the design of our Group brands’ products.

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By ensuring that our employees’ employment conditions are respected.

By maintaining and expanding our regional network of operations to foster close customer relationships and support the local economy.

By working toward a responsible supply chain and extending our minimum employment and environmental standards to our suppliers.

By refusing any direct or indirect sourcing that relies on violations of fundamental rights, particularly the right to fairly compensated employment.

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By offering a wide range of products essential for infrastructure development, innovation, and industrial maintenance.

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By promoting equal treatment in our employment practices.

By taking a proactive approach to workforce inclusion, job placement, and corporate philanthropy, particularly for vulnerable populations.

By working toward a responsible supply chain, ensuring fair employment conditions, and prohibiting all forms of exploitation.

By creating the conditions for sustainable business partnerships around the world.

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By incorporating services, solutions, and products that promote sustainability into our offerings.

By contributing to the local economy and job creation.

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By developing “more sustainable” alternative offerings and guiding our customers’ purchasing decisions, particularly through our Responsible Selection program.

By working toward a responsible supply chain and extending our CSR commitments to our suppliers.

By continuing our Group brands’ commitment to better understanding the impacts of their products, particularly through Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), in order to improve their eco-design and select suppliers that are more respectful of people and the environment.

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By measuring our carbon footprint and identifying areas for action to combat climate change.

By optimizing our use of materials and energy, particularly in our logistics operations, travel, and buildings.

By continuing our Group brands’ commitment to better understanding the impacts of their products, particularly through Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), in order to improve their eco-design and select suppliers that are more respectful of people and the environment.

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By incorporating the impacts on aquatic environments into the Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) of our Group’s branded products.

By ensuring that our manufacturers effectively manage discharges into aquatic environments when selecting them.

By storing hazardous products under conditions that ensure risk management.

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By rejecting any direct or indirect supply that fuels conflict zones or profits from the intensive or unfair exploitation of natural resources.

By ensuring the traceability of raw materials, particularly by incorporating materials from organic farming into the PPE produced by our Groupe OPSIAL brand.

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By making business ethics a core value of our practices.

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By joining the Global Compact.

By ensuring, to the extent possible, that the Group’s practices are aligned with the SDGs.

OUR SPONSORSHIP INITIATIVES

In addition to its core business activities, DESCOURS & CABAUD helps address the challenges facing civil society, particularly through corporate philanthropy.

We provide long-term support to associations and foundations that share our values and are particularly active in the fields of health, education and social integration, culture, and the arts.

HEALTH
Supporting initiatives in the areas of health and research

The Hospices Civils de Lyon Foundation
The Hospices Civils de Lyon Foundation funds projects that address three priorities: improving patient care and comfort in the hospital, accelerating medical research and innovation, and supporting patients and their loved ones beyond treatment.

We have supported this foundation since its inception in 2013.

SPORTS AND SOCIAL INTEGRATION
Promoting equal opportunities in priority neighborhoods

Sport dans la Ville
Founded in Lyon, Sport dans la Ville helps young people from underserved neighborhoods find their career path

by instilling key values through sports and offering personalized support

(career guidance, entrepreneurship, etc.).

We have been providing financial support to the organization since 2012.

Our employees regularly get involved by mentoring young people, leading

career exploration workshops, or participating in various sporting events

organized by the organization.

SOCIAL ECONOMY
Contributing to the growth of a socially responsible and sustainable economic landscape

Emergences Foundation
The Emergences Foundation is a community of more than fifty companies based in Lyon whose mission is to connect and help grow the social, societal, and environmental impact organizations it supports by strengthening their economic and entrepreneurial foundations.

Beyond financial support, we encourage our employees to get involved alongside these organizations through skills-based volunteering.

CULTURE
Supporting the policy on the acquisition of works of art

Lyon Museum of Fine ArtsThe Lyon Museum of Fine Arts enjoys a reputation throughout Europe thanks to its

exceptionally rich collections, spanning from antiquity to the present day, and the influence

of its exhibitions, organized in partnership with museums around the world.

DESCOURS & CABAUD is one of the 11 corporate sponsors that founded the Saint-Pierre Museum Club

in 2009, with the aim of supporting the museum’s acquisition policy. The Club has enabled the addition

of some ten works by Pierre Soulages, Jean-Honoré Fragonard,

Nicolas Poussin, and Henri Matisse to the collections.

Information on the GENDER EQUALITY INDEX