Governance

Our net zero targets are underpinned by a commitment to transparency and by good governance.

We will publish our progress against these targets every year in our Annual Report and Sustainability Report. We will also report our progress via CDP, a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts. Our emissions data and calculation methodology will continue to undergo third party verification, and the verification statement will be published annually in our Sustainability Report.

We will submit our emissions reduction targets to the Science Based Targets initiative for validation.

Progress relies on accountability so, for the first time, we will include our carbon reduction targets in the incentive plans for our Executive Directors.

Our Board has overall accountability for the management of risks and opportunities, including around climate change. The Board’s Sustainability Committee includes both our CEO and CFO with experienced Non-Executive Board Members forming the majority and meets at least four times a year. The purpose of the Committee is to review and make recommendations regarding our sustainability strategy, policies, and standards of business behaviour to ensure they are up to date and reflect best practice.

In 2021, we will hold our first investor day on environmental, social, and governance issues, and we will continue to engage with all our stakeholders – including our people, clients and shareholders – for their insights into the risks and opportunities around climate change for our clients and our company.

Our focus is on reductions first.

Until 2030 our focus is firmly set on reducing our emissions as quickly and as far as we can. We recognise that there will continue to be some emissions produced as a result of our business activities. For the emissions that remain, after we’ve taken all technical and economically feasible opportunities to reduce our emissions, we will offset them, rigorously and using credible schemes.

We are innovating ways to collect data about our emissions, to make environmentally sound business decisions both now and in the future. As we gather further data about our emissions impact, we will explore how best to evolve our targets and integrate these into our overall performance management. We will also share our knowledge with our partners, suppliers, clients and others in our industry to develop robust standards.

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