Stakeholder

Definition

Stakeholder. Individual or group having an interest in the performance or success of an organization and its associated processes. Stakeholders can include customers, partners, employees, shareholders, owners, the local community, first responders, government, and regulators.

In sustainability context stakeholders are those who can affect or be affected by the undertaking. There are two main groups of stakeholders:

1. affected stakeholders: individuals or groups whose interests are affected or could be affected - positively or negatively - by the undertaking’s activities and its direct and indirect business relationships across its value chain; and
2. users of sustainability statements: primary users of general- purpose financial reporting (existing and potential investors, lenders and other creditors including asset managers, credit institutions, insurance undertakings), as well as other users, including the undertaking’s business partners, trade unions and social partners, civil society and non-governmental organisations, governments, analysts and academics.

Some, but not all, stakeholders may belong to the two groups.

Examples

• insurers, reinsurers, insurance regulators, delivery agents, households, etc., involved in insurance activity are stakeholders.