A public statement by a company that specifies the actions that it intends to take or the goals, criteria, or targets that it intends to meet with regard to its management of or performance on environmental, social, and/or governance topics.

• Commitments may also be titled or referred to as policies, pledges, or other terms.
• The AFi recognises that commitments are also made by other actors, such as governments. This definition is limited to company commitments because these are the primary focus of the Accountability Framework.
• Commitments may be company-wide (eg, a company-wide forest policy) or specific to certain commodities, regions, or business units. They may be topic specific or they may address multiple environmental, social, and/or governance topics.
• Commitments, as defined here, are distinct from the operational policies or procedures (eg, sourcing codes, supplier requirements, manuals, and standard operating procedures) by which companies may operationalise their commitments or sustainability initiatives. Commitments are generally broader, more normative or aspirational, and take a multi-year view of company performance, whereas operational policies or procedures tend to focus on specific implementation details, parameters, or requirements.