Corporate responsibility reporting: Leadership, corporate governance & business practices

Corporate responsibility reporting

As part of our commitment to operating in a responsible manner, we recognize the importance of reporting to stakeholders in a transparent and accountable way. We disclose not only the information that's required by law and regulation, but also information that more broadly describes our activities, policies, opportunities and risks. Read our Corporate Responsibility Policy.

Below are some highlights from our 2010 Corporate Responsibility report. Click on the tabs and graphics to get more information from our performance in our key commitment areas. Read our full report.

We welcome your feedback. Send your comments or inquiries to our corporate responsibility team.

Integrity Helpline

In 2010, the internal Investigations Committee investigated 21 complaints. Of this total, most focused on issues relating to conflict of interest and fraud.

Integrating long-term environmental strategies into our business planning
Updating our Code of Business Conduct & Ethics to reflect the growing use of social media in the workplace
Building awareness of our corporate responsibility commitments and the role every employee and contractor has in meeting them
Rolling out our operations management system across our organization

Named to the North American Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Canadian Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index
Re-structured the organization to align with business goals
Enhanced our emergency response plan to more effectively respond to an event
Adopted new shareholder engagement policies
Developed a revised operations management system to embed our corporate responsibility commitments into our operations
Introduced an operations excellence initiative at our major oil sands projects

Our strategic approach

As a company we're committed to maximizing value for our shareholders while achieving a balance of good governance and economic, social and environmental performance. This commitment guides the way we conduct our business across all our operations.

We're putting this commitment into action with:

Leadership: Our Executive Team ensures that safety, health, environmental, social, ethical, financial and fiscal considerations are integrated into our business decisions. Leading by example, our Executive Team also ensures that performance expectations across the company are consistent with our corporate responsibility commitments and are communicated to all staff.

Governance: Strong governance is the foundation of our business and is fundamental to the generation of long-term shareholder value. Our governance framework protects all our assets, including financial, physical, intellectual, informational and reputational, as well as the people who work for us and those in the communities where we operate. Our Board of Directors works with our Executive Team to oversee our strategy development and risk management.

Ethical business practices: We have policies and practices in place, including our Corporate Responsibility Policy and Code of Business Conduct & Ethics, that provide a clear statement of our values and guide the behaviour that we expect of our directors, employees and contractors.

Continuous improvement and innovation: Our company's culture is built on the pursuit of new ideas and new approaches. We're focused on finding practical and creative solutions to improve our performance - to make our work safer and more efficient and demonstrate measurable improvements in greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutants, land impact and water use. We're working hard to do this through, alignment of our business systems and practices, new technologies and front line initiatives with our employees.

2010 corporate responsibility report (pdf)

Complete report

Non-GAAP measures

Cash flow, debt and capitalization are non-GAAP measures described and presented in this report in order to provide shareholders and potential investors with additional information regarding Cenovus's liquidity and its ability to generate funds to finance its operations. Cash flow is defined as cash from operating activities excluding net change in other assets and liabilities and net change in non-cash working capital from continuing operations, both of which are defined on the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows in Cenovus's interim consolidated financial statements, available at www.cenovus.com. Debt is defined as the short-term borrowings and the current and long-term portions of long-term debt excluding amounts with respect to the Partnership Contribution Payable or Receivable. Capitalization is defined as debt plus shareholders' equity. For further information, refer to our most recent Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) available at www.cenovus.com.

Oil and gas information

Certain natural gas volumes have been converted to barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) on the basis of one barrel (bbl) to six thousand cubic feet (Mcf). BOE may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A conversion ratio of one bbl to six Mcf is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead.

Forward-looking information

This report contains certain forward-looking statements and other information (collectively "forward-looking information") about our current expectations, estimates and projections, made in light of our experience and perception of historical trends. Forward-looking information in this report is identified by words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "plan", "forecast", "target", "project", "could", "focus", "vision", "goal", "proposed", "committed", "potential", "may" or similar expressions and includes suggestions of future outcomes, including statements about our growth strategy and related schedules, projected future value or net asset value, forecast operating and financial results, planned capital expenditures, expected future production, including the timing, stability or growth thereof, future use and development of technology and projected increasing shareholder value. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information as our actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied.

Developing forward-looking information involves reliance on a number of assumptions and consideration of certain risks and uncertainties, some of which are specific to Cenovus and others that apply to the industry generally. The factors or assumptions on which the forward-looking information is based and the risk factors and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially are discussed under "Risk Management" and "Advisory" in our most recent Quarter Report. For a full discussion of our material risk factors, see "Risk Factors" in our most recent Annual Information Form/Form 40-F available at www.cenovus.com. Readers should also refer to the risk factors described in other documents we file from time to time with securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedar.com, www.sec.gov and www.cenovus.com.

Corporate responsibility