Our environment
We're committed to running our business in a way that minimises our impact on the environment as much as possible. As a financial services business, our direct environmental impact is lower than some other organisations but we recognise that our day-to-day use of energy, natural resources and transport naturally have an effect on the environment.
Our environmental strategy is embedded in all our businesses driven by a strong policy. This is backed up by a series of environmental objectives, targets and a series of key performance indicators based on identified issues giving a clear focus to our improvement programme.
Our environment programme is audited annually and we report on our progress in our annual corporate responsibility report.
Our environmental objectives are:
- Reduce contribution to climate change (energy use)
- Reduce contribution to climate change (transport use)
- Reduce use of natural resources (water and paper)
- Improve resource efficiency with regard to materials used by our businesses
- Develop a best practice approach to measuring and reporting our corporate responsibility impacts
- Embed social and environmental considerations into our procurement activities
- Develop effective communication mechanisms to engage employees in environmental initiatives and to raise the profile of our Corporate Responsibility programme
Management systems
We operate a central environmental management system (EMS) which mirrors the requirements of the international environmental standard ISO 14001. This provides us with a practical tool to help us understand our impacts on the environment, to manage these in a structured way through meeting objectives, and to wwEvaluate and improve our environmental performance in a process driven way.
Our businesses manage environmental performance through a series of environmental working groups, with support provided at group level. They are responsible for maintaining an EMS, setting environmental objectives and targets, and for developing integrated action plans that will enable these goals to be delivered.
In addition to a core set of key performance indicators which measure our environmental performance, an annual, independent, internal audit is carried out in all our countries to verify compliance with legislation and the ISO 14001 standard. External verification of our performance against environmental objectives and targets is also carried out each year.
Responsible procurement principles
We think responsibly about the environmental impacts that arise from our purchasing decisions. We work with all our suppliers in a professional and responsible manner, paying promptly and being clear of our expectations.
It's also important to us that our suppliers are aware of their impact on society and the environment. We have responsible procurement principles which set out clear standards for operating in an environmentally responsible way. This involves reviewing the environmental performance of our key suppliers and working in partnership with them to develop policies and practices that minimise the environmental risks within our supply chain.
Where possible, we will also procure products and services which are manufactured and managed to high environmental and social standards.