Integrity and Ethical Performance

Integrity is of the utmost importance to us. Our 12 ethical principles set high standards on how we must behave to do our business responsibly and our commitment to respectful behaviour in the workplace. We operate across many cultures and countries. While cultural norms may vary, we expect colleagues to behave appropriately and with the highest standards of ethical behaviour, treating everyone with respect. To ensure widespread understanding of our principles and values, we continued our dialogues on ethical dilemmas in 2024. The concept of dilemma dialogues focuses on real-world work situations and fosters open discussion on moral dilemmas, attitudes and unethical behaviours which may arise in the workplace or with external stakeholders. These interactive sessions enhanced awareness of integrity, openness and transparency, addressing topics such as equality, diversity and inclusion, speaking up, differences of opinion (particularly where there is an imbalance of power or seniority), and controversial topics that prompt public or internal debate and strongly held differences in opinions.

To enhance integrity awareness, reinforce our commitment to ethical behaviour and help our employees recognise and navigate challenges related to our ethical principles, our 2024 annual mandatory e-learning focused on our Code of Conduct. The e-learning was completed by 93% of our employees, with the remaining 7% yet to complete it due to valid reasons such as long-term (sick) leave or maternity leave. All new joiners will complete the same integrity e-learning as part of their onboarding.

The values, systems and principles that define and guide the behaviour of our business partners are described in the Business Ethics section.

Incidents 

In 2024, 171 integrity issues, concerns and requests for advice were registered compared to 136 in 2023. We welcome these reports as they demonstrate our employees’ awareness of company procedures and policies, supporting our commitment to promoting integrity in our operations.

Over half of the registered cases were related to project vetting, primarily involving consultations on third-party assessments; sanction checks; controversies related to working with specific clients projects and countries with human rights concerns, and other involvement in publicly disputed projects.

The remaining cases reported issues and concerns related to potential breaches of our Code of Conduct, including concerns regarding disrespectful workplace behaviour, fraudulent acts and involvement in publicly disputed projects. Of these cases, two were identified as high-risk compliance issues. Following investigations, three cases, including one from the previous year, were found to breach our Code of Conduct (PDF). Management followed up on these cases and took the appropriate measures. The cases had no financial impact.
All issues and concerns raised were addressed or investigated. Mitigating and/or remedial measures were implemented where appropriate.