Compelling design Q&A Arcadis and Cargill Q. How has storytelling and report design evolved within your sustainability strategy over the past few years? Cargill For us, storytelling plays a critical role in showing up as “one Cargill.” With so many diverse enterprises and activities across the company, it’s essential that the report tell a cohesive, strategic story. From the start, we’ve focused on grounding our stories in data, and increasingly, we’re working with our design partners to make complex topics – such as regenerative agriculture – more accessible through clear, engaging visuals. It’s all about making the content easier to understand while staying true to the substance behind it. Arcadis Our messaging hasn’t changed dramatically over the years – sustainability has been a consistent core theme in our reporting – but what has changed is the external landscape. The increased push for transparency has helped validate our work and brought greater visibility to the initiatives we’ve had in place for years. Rather than pivoting our message, we’ve been able to reinforce and elevate it through clearer reporting. It may sound like a quiet evolution, but it’s one that builds on our approach and strengthens how we tell our story. Q. How do you strike a balance between meeting reporting requirements and creating a report that’s engaging and inspiring for your audiences? Arcadis The shift from voluntary disclosure to mandatory compliance has required an adjustment in mindset and culture. With CSRD, the expectations are sharper and more granular, especially for impact across the value chain. That’s where we see the biggest challenge – in harmonizing data and impact disclosures across over 30,000 projects in more than 70 countries, while maintaining clarity and consistency. This creates tension between structure and storytelling. We’ve historically brought a human, value-driven thread into our storytelling and that softness is becoming harder to maintain. Structurally, we need to meet detailed ESRS requirements and there’s a nervousness about over disclosure. But as we move deeper into value chain reporting, we hope to bring that distinctive voice back – showing not just compliance, but also the spirit of what Arcadis is all about. The increased push for transparency has helped validate our work and brought greater visibility to the initiatives we’ve had in place for years. Arcadis Cargill As a global private company, the shift from voluntary to mandatory reporting will be significant, but we’ve always prioritized aligning our content with our material topics, backed by data and partnership with law, corporate audit and controllership. That foundation helps. The big question is how to balance visual storytelling with growing text and data disclosure requirements. We’re exploring ways to maintain rich, engaging design using infographics, visuals and case studies, while accommodating new requirements, perhaps with a robust data appendix. Transparency is critical – but so are clarity, creativity, audience comprehension and connection. Q. How does design help you tailor sustainability messages across diverse audiences and markets? Cargill One of the most important things we’ve heard – especially from our financial partners and customers – is how much they appreciate seeing a more unified sustainability narrative for Cargill, representing the work of over 155,000 employees across the 70 countries in which we operate. In the past, several of our supply chains had their own reports, which fragmented the message. Now, with a single report and clear design, we show the full picture of “one Cargill” and must prioritize and balance strong visuals, data and digestibility. We work closely with our communications team on a robust internal and external campaign upon publication. We’ve developed leadership advisory groups for feedback throughout report development, tailored collateral for customer engagements and leveraged distribution vehicles from social media to targeted videos to ensure the report resonates with the right audiences. Arcadis We’re also conscious that our reporting needs to resonate with a range of stakeholders – that’s a long- standing challenge. We’re headquartered in Europe, where regulatory expectations like CSRD are especially rigorous. But we also recognize that a report can’t do everything. It’s now part of a wider brand and communication ecosystem – alongside social media, web content and other channels. That helps us tailor our messages and highlight different aspects of our work depending on the audience. In some ways, that shift has freed up the report to do what it needs to do structurally, while allowing broader storytelling to live in more flexible formats. Q. Looking ahead, how do you see the role of storytelling and design evolving? Cargill Storytelling will remain core to communicating the “why” behind sustainability at Cargill, as our purpose is to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. A well-designed report helps connect the dots between our purpose, sustainability strategy and the work happening on the ground. We’re focused on sharing success stories from our facilities and teams – not just to demonstrate progress, but to spark inspiration across regions. When someone reads about a water reduction project in one part of the world, we want them to see what’s possible in their own area. Arcadis We also see storytelling as remaining absolutely central – it’s how we communicate what Arcadis is really about. While the current focus is on compliance and getting the technical detail right, the next phase will be about impact and authenticity. As businesses move beyond the first hurdles of mandatory reporting, storytelling will help differentiate companies by elevating what they actually achieve. We expect demand to grow for genuine, outcome-driven stories that show how sustainability is creating real-world change. Q. Finally, what advice would you share with others navigating this space? Arcadis One of our biggest takeaways is the importance of maintaining a sense of identity in mandatory reporting, the design of which can really help amplify our storytelling and reflect our company purpose and values. It’s something we recognized early on in our CSRD compliance journey and we have tried hard to maintain this focus in our disclosures. While we’ve long had cross- functional accountability for environmental and social performance, we’ve had to build a shared understanding of what’s changing and why. Our advice is to start conversations early, be transparent and recognize that even if you’re not fully there yet, showing you’re on the path counts. Investing in this engagement really helped strengthen our storytelling and design approach for our disclosures. Cargill Our advice is to be patient, clear and invest in strengthening external partnerships and internal alignment. One of our key lessons is the value of working with partners who truly understand both sustainability and design. Finding those partners takes time; and so does ensuring they really get what sustainability means in your context. We’ve found it helpful to share examples of high-impact storytelling and data visualization versus theoretical design discussions. Internally, the transition from voluntary to mandatory reporting is a significant change management exercise that requires educating teams and subject matter experts, as well as engaging leadership. We’re using the extra time provided by CSRD omnibus to further enhance reporting processes and controls, ensuring we’re ready for what’s next. Storytelling will remain core to communicating the ‘why’ behind sustainability at Cargill, as our purpose is to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. Cargill Mark McKenna Global Sustainability Director Arcadis Kate Powers ESG Reporting Lead Cargill In this conversation, Arcadis and Cargill explore how thoughtful design and storytelling are helping elevate sustainability reporting –making it clearer, more engaging and more strategic. They reflect on the evolving role of design in meeting stakeholder needs, navigating complexity and turning compliance into connection. Arcadis is a leading global partner, with 36,000 people active in more than 30 countries. It brings together the best minds from around the world to address the challenges of climate, energy security and diversification, and livable cities. Cargill provides food, ingredients, agricultural solutions and industrial products to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. Headquartered in the United States, it delivers products in 125 different markets and operates in 70 countries with more than 155,000 employees worldwide. More about Cargill More about Cargill More about Arcadis More about Arcadis