RWS AR 23 Final Single pages - Flipbook - Page 27
ENVIRONMENTAL
We hold ourselves to high
accountability standards. As
a result, in 2022 we signed up
to the United Nation’s Race to Zero and
o昀케cially committed to set science-based
targets to be carbon net zero through the
Science Based Targets initiative ("SBTi").
We also improved the accuracy of our
footprint by improving our data collection
and greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions to
include both our operations and supply
chain, and committed to setting carbon
reduction targets which are aligned with
the SBTi. The new targets were submitted to
the SBTi in December for validation and will
be published once validated.
Impact is assessed on both 昀椀nancial and reputational
grounds. Financial impact in the period could be
increased costs, reduced revenue, 昀椀nes or increased
management time required to deliver a given activity.
The Board has direct oversight of climate-related issues
as part of the risk review process and it agrees our
position and commitments on climate change.
We have ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management
certi昀椀cation at our head o昀케ce in Chalfont St Peter (UK),
our Maidenhead o昀케ce (UK) and our Chinese o昀케ces in
Beijing, Rizhao and Xi’an. Our Environmental Management
System certi昀椀cations collectively cover 62% of our o昀케ces
by FTE – our aim is to continue to increase this compliance
to over 90% of our sites by the end of FY30.
During FY23 we have achieved the following:
•
Improved disclosure of climate-related risk and
opportunities through reporting processes in alignment
with the TCFD (see pages 48 to 59).
•
O昀케ce relocations: relocated our Indore o昀케ce (India) to
a new green building – the new building has a sewage
water treatment facility for recycling water for use in the
toilets and gardening, solar panels lighting up common
areas, and a plantation in the open area. The o昀케ce also
bene昀椀ts from ample daylight, energy-e昀케cient LEDs, and
smart sensors for lights in toilets. We moved our Rosario
o昀케ce (Argentina) and furbished it using sustainable
practices which had been used previously – the team
reused the majority of the previous infrastructure.
Materials which could not be reused, for example,
aluminium pro昀椀les from dismantled partitions or wornout carpeting that didn’t 昀椀t the new layout, was donated
as materials to be repurposed.
•
RWS currently has 33 leased company vehicles of which
13 are electric/hybrid. As part of our carbon reduction
plan and in line with our new policy, as leases come up
for renewal, vehicles are switched to EV.
•
Ran environmental awareness programmes to promote
initiatives and actively encouraged colleagues to get
involved. These included Earth Day, Earth Hour, World
Environment Day, World Ocean Day, World Rivers
Day, Water Day, National Recycling Week, Be Vegan,
International Day of Biodiversity, Forest Day, Seed
Giveaway Day, and World Cleanup Day.
•
Organised local events at o昀케ces to raise awareness –
Alnwick (UK), Brno (Czechia), Paris (France) and Rosario
(Argentina) held ‘bike to work’ initiatives.
•
Published monthly articles on environmental topics and
issues in the Group-wide newsletter.
•
Green Agenda intranet and channel on Viva Engage
where articles and initiatives are posted.
In 2021, we became a signatory to the Task Force on
Climate-related Financial Disclosures ("TCFD") and
have adopted its framework. As part of our strategy in
FY23 we reassessed three di昀昀erent climate scenarios
using Representative Concentration Pathways ("RCP")
- RCP 1.9, RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5. RCPs are used by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ("IPCC")
to illustrate future concentrations of greenhouse gases
in the atmosphere. (See pages 48 to 59 for further
information).
We are committed to reviewing and improving the
environmental aspects and impacts of our operations
by preventing pollution, protecting the environment
and enhancing positive impacts wherever we can. These
actions improve the environment as well as RWS being
an attractive place to work which supports the mitigation
strategy of one of our key risks, namely attracting and
retaining good quality people.
To demonstrate how important climate change and
the environment is to RWS, the CEO retains overall
responsibility for all relevant climate-related and
environmental matters whilst the General Counsel and
Company Secretary has overall responsibility for the
Group’s risk management programme. For climate-related
risks they are assisted by the Executive Team, the Head of
Sustainability and ESG, and additional top management.
The Group categorises risks according to the likelihood
of occurrence and the potential impact on the Group.
STRATEGIC REPORT
RWS Holdings plc — Annual Report 2023
27
