RWS Annual Report 2022 web - Flipbook - Page 54
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (continued)
Adaptation and mitigation activities
As mentioned above under ‘Governance’, the Board
reviews performance against climate targets and is
working towards setting a carbon net zero commitment.
Initially, the aim is to reduce carbon emissions by 55% by
2030.
Applicable risks and opportunities are identified by the
CEO, CFO and Head of Sustainability and ESG in order to
direct business strategy. The CFO is also responsible for
environmental compliance and reporting which also helps
focus the company’s attention on climate-related risks,
opportunities and mitigation.
Acquisitions or divestments
RWS acquired Liones Holding B.V. ('Liones') for €17.7
million (on a cash-and-debt free basis) with additional
payments of €2.5 million due on each of the first and
second anniversaries of completion. The flagship product
of Liones is Fonto, the leading cloud native, data driven
authoring solution for mission critical documents. The
Fonto suite of products allows non-technical subject
matter experts to create, edit and collaborate on
structured documents by hiding the complexity of the
underlying mark-up languages. The acquisition was
funded from existing RWS cash resources.
Access to capital
To continue to ensure access to capital we have
strengthened our corporate climate governance and
associated disclosures.
Steps we have taken include:
•
•
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Appointing a Head of Sustainability and ESG in 2020
•
•
Setting ESG targets and delivering against them
Reporting using TCFD ahead of it becoming mandatory
Committing to SBTs and having our targets validated by
SBTi
Setting ESG personal objectives related to mitigating the
effects of climate-change on/by the business for each
member of the Executive Team
As mentioned, our senior executives monitor climaterelated risks and invest where necessary to mitigate these
scenarios.
The decision by the company to switch to 100% renewable
energy wherever possible is an example of this. Although
initially it will cost the company more, we have taken this
decision as we believe it is more ethical and responsible,
it is aligned with the company’s values, and we hope
that it will become common practice as more and more
companies adopt this approach.
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RWS — Annual Report 2022
STRATEGIC REPORT
We also recognise that improving our climate change
impacts generate financial gains, for example, a reduction
in energy and transport consumption will reduce related
costs.
Climate-related risks are assessed as part of the Group’s
risk process to determine the principal risks facing the
Group. These are then prioritised, and appropriate
management strategies are developed ensuring that the
identified risk is mitigated as much as reasonably possible.
Investment is considered on the basis of the priority of
the issue as well as the return on investment. An example
of this is the installation of LED lights at our offices in
Chalfont St Peter, Brno, Indore, Lausanne, London,
Nanjing, Rosario and San Francisco, reflecting a long-term
return on investment whilst reducing carbon emissions in
the short term.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we accelerated our IT
Infrastructure improvements to ensure that our clients
were supported and could receive the same level of care
despite not being able to operate from central locations.
This developed our remote working practices which also
improved our resilience to the impact of climate change.
We look for ways to enhance our remote working system
continually to further reduce our carbon emissions and
improve our clients’ experience.
As a further focus on driving change, each member of
the Executive Team has objectives related to mitigating the
effects of climate-change on/by the business. Additional
remuneration is linked to achieving pre-established targets
and goals. Personal objectives for FY22 and FY23 are
aligned with establishing policies, systems and processes.
Moving forward the proposal is they will be aligned with
achieving carbon emission targets.
