Enhancing Society Together

In 2021, we continued to lower the carbon footprint of our own operations and supported our clients to become more sustainable and (further) reduce the carbon footprint of their operations and assets. In doing so, they see the value of our expertise and ability to lead in this area, which increases our influence across the value chain. Across our organisation we were also actively involved in initiatives that benefitted communities in which we work.

In the course of 2021, we strengthened our mission to Enhance Society Together. It was reinforced as our purpose in our refined strategy 2022-2025 and we made its meaning more tangible and targeted by identifying five core themes where we believe we can have the biggest impact in delivering benefits for society and the environment. These are:

• Climate change,

• Biodiversity & natural systems,

• Resources & circularity,

• Social value & equality,

• Safety & well-being.

How do we achieve our ambitions?

In 2021 we appointed a Leading Professional for Enhancing Society Together who has translated our sustainability strategy into clear priorities and is leading its implementation, encouraging and driving change within project teams and across our business. Our commitment is to continually push boundaries, recognising what is good and that there is always room to do better.

From early 2022 we are aligning our decision-making and reporting structures with the five themes identified above. However, through 2021 we still used the 4 Questions in our discussions and projects to motivate our clients to make sustainable choices and drive positive change. In addition, clear alignment with our purpose of Enhancing Society Together is integrated into the governance model of our company. It is included in the roles and responsibilities of our management and the Works Council, and forms part of management targets starting at Board level and working downwards. It is a shared ambition of the Board and a key responsibility of the CEO. It is integrated in our way of working via our global Management System and is delivered through our Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE) Management System, our Compliance Integrity Management System and our Information Security Management System. Some projects require more extensive consideration in respect of our responsibility and sustainability goals. When there is a potential challenge between a project and our core purpose and beliefs, we are guided by the principles and standards of the UN Global Compact, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OECD), ISO 26000 (Guidance on Social Responsibility) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

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Our 4 Questions to enhance society together:
1. Stakeholders: Does the output meet the requirements of most stakeholders involved?
2. Add value: Does the output serve added value for the client and society as a whole?
3. Future-proof: Is the result lasting, thus is it future-proof?
4. Resources and Energy: Can we meet the client’s demand while minimising the use of natural resources and energy?

Looking back on 2021, we made an impact through our own operations, through our projects as well as through initiatives that benefitted communities. To ensure the right focus as an organisation, we define the important material topics for our stakeholders and relate them to the actions and decisions we take. In 2021, we continued discussions with relevant internal and external stakeholders. Based on these and additional client conversations in 2022, we will refine our materiality analysis.

Material topics

Our material topics and key results from 2021 appear in the table below. It is clear that Covid-19 has played a big part in greenhouse gas emission reductions as travel has been severely curtailed. While we do not anticipate such low levels to continue, the pandemic led us to challenge assumptions which will influence how and where we work in the future with hybrid home/office working.
The number of work-related accidents and incidents is likely to be lower because most employees continued to work from home for most parts of the year. Although not strictly a work-related incident, mental health and related absence have been a big concern.
Pandemic related constraints on supply chains resulted in delays in the delivery of EV vehicles making us miss our 2021 target of a 100% electric car fleet in the Netherlands. Due to this – and the ‘kilometre underutilisation’ in various car contracts due to Covid-19 – we extended several fossil-fuelled car contracts. We now expect to reach this milestone in 2022.

Read more about these material topics in our CSR Report

Carbon reduction through our own operations

We are committed to occupy a leadership role in the transition to a net zero carbon economy and in 2021 have accelerated our climate reduction ambitions to achieve net zero by 2030 to be achieved by a year-on-year reduction of 10% compared to 2019. We will report annually through science-based targets, which ground our targets in climate science and provide further indication of the seriousness of our intent. In 2021, we also committed to the United Nations Business Ambition to limit global warming to 1.5°C to reduce destructive impacts of climate change on human society and nature.

In December 2020, we committed to our offices being Paris Proof by 2035, reducing the energy consumption of our offices around the globe by two thirds compared to the end of 2020 and only using energy from renewable sources. In 2021, we created a roadmap for all our Dutch offices with an overview of possible actions to make our offices Paris Proof. Based on this inventory we will drive towards positive outcomes aligning with the respective landlords. We will take the initiative to execute actions ourselves where relevant (e.g., LED lighting) and we will initiate sessions with other stakeholders (suppliers, other tenants) on how we can further reduce energy usage. Moreover, we developed a monitoring tool to measure our progress. For our international offices we’ve created a rollout plan to become Paris Proof in 2035 as well.

Our focus on sustainable mobility is a key route to lower carbon emissions. We are reducing the need for travel by providing a virtual working environment enabling employees to work and collaborate independently from any location. When travel is necessary, we encourage employees to do so in a more sustainable way to reduce emissions/km.
In the Netherlands at the end of 2021, 86% of our lease fleet was electric. We anticipate reaching 100% in 2022.

Our calculated footprint covers CO₂ equivalent greenhouse gas emissions related to energy and paper consumption in our offices, and business travel. It is based on an international data collection structure and, in 2021, the data covered 92% of our employees (the Netherlands, South Africa, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Poland, Vietnam, Australia and India). A weighted average is applied for remaining employees. The data is collected by a team of local employees appointed in participating countries who report annually to our corporate data manager. Their report is based on measurements (provided by meters or bills, internal registration systems or reports from partners or suppliers, such as travel agencies). Data definitions and the procedure on how to deal with missing data are standardised (DEFRA based/Global Emission Factors retrieved from Ecoinvent 3.8 Database, method applied = IPCC2021 GWP 100 V1.0 (in line with GHG-protocol & ISO14064). If data is not available in time, the previous year’s data for that item and period is reported (temporary estimate).

Over 2022 we are aligning our net zero reporting with the Science Based Targets initiative.

Adding value through our projects

As a service provider we are conscious that the influence we can have on environmental and social factors is far greater through working with and for our clients on their projects than it is looking at our own operations alone. Through integrating new ideas, innovations, technology and approaches to delivering sustainability into our projects we seek to influence and drive positive change beyond our own organisation and contribute meaningfully to overall positive impacts for society.

Examples of positive impact obtained through our projects

Adding value to local communities

We play an active role in initiatives that benefitted the communities in which we work. Our BrITE Foundation is a charity established by our employees to make a real difference in the world. Through the foundation, employees contribute time, expertise and money to small-scale charity projects. As part of our 140^th anniversary celebrations, the company donated €140,000 to BrITE to continue its good work. Organisations which benefited from BrITE support during 2021 included the Macheo Foundation in Kenya which was able to provide 240 desks to primary schools, and the Disabled Surfers Association in Australia to support its work to get people with disabilities back into the water. Through BrITE, 900 colleagues in more than 40 locations took part in World Cleanup Day collecting 860 sacks of litter.

More examples of doing good

Looking forward

The introduction of five themes into our mission requires changes in the way we score and show progress. In 2022, our 4 Questions will be replaced by a self-scoring system in respect of each theme to quantify the scale and nature of the positive change we are delivering through our projects.

Our future measurement system looks at each project in the broadest sense, ensuring we are clear on where the balance lies between positive and adverse impact. The system will also enable cross-sector collaboration to ensure all projects can benefit from developing best practice in each sector or field. 

Enhancing Society Together will also become more relevant in the decisions we make about which projects to pursue. This is an evolution in our principles and will require greater transparency on how particular projects align with our mission. It will involve a transition, but over time we expect to move towards projects which have even more positive scores across more of the themes and which strongly align with and strengthen our portfolio.

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^{In 2022 we will be quantifying the nature of positive change we are delivering through our projects on five themes. The blue outlined area on this spider web chart is for illustrative purposes only.}

Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive

In April 2021, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which would amend the existing reporting requirements of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive. The Commission’s proposal for the CSRD envisages the adoption of EU sustainability reporting standards. The planning of the Commission is to adopt the first set of reporting standards under the new legislation by the end of 2022. That would mean that our company should apply the standards for the first time covering the financial year 2023. We will closely monitor the development and requirement coming from these new reporting standards to ensure our sustainability reporting is aligned.