ESG is a part of Azets’ core purpose
What ESG means to Azets
ESG is a part of Azets’ core purpose “to improve the lives of our colleagues, clients and communities in a sustainable way”. As a large organisation, we have a responsibility to give back to the world we work in.
ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) is a way of managing and measuring our sustainability and societal impact as a business. Having a strong approach to ESG is the right thing to do because it’s important to our colleagues, our clients and our investors.
Protecting our planet, being a valued part of society, and running a responsible business are fundamental to our approach at Azets.
How we embed ESG at Azets
We have an ESG Executive Steering Committee which is responsible for overseeing and reporting our ESG programmes across Azets.
Working groups across our business lead the way in bringing our ambitions to life and making positive change across Azets through innovative ideas and solutions.
How we report our progress
Azets Group report on ESG measurements at the end of the financial year using Global Reporting Initiative Standards, which started in FY22/23. This means we are reporting on ESG in a way that is comparable to other businesses.
ESG Governance
Over the past 12 months, we have reorganised our ESG Governance structure and created two groups responsible for the delivery of our sustainability ambition.
The ESG Executive Steering Committee sets the strategic direction for ESG at Azets Group, ensuring Group-wise alignment and engagement, and setting Azets’ priorities.
The ESG Delivery Group delivers the action plan and co-ordinates Group-wide projects and initiatives, ensuring engagement and communication with each of our Business Units. The ESG Delivery Group is responsible for leading activity against our three ESG pillars – Environment, Social, and Governance.
ESG Executive Steering Committee
ESG Delivery Group
This diversity of cultures and expertise is one of many things that makes us such a strong resilient business. We feel a strong attachment to the communities we work in and play our positive part in the world. We do more, ensuring that we have the right focus and commitment to deliver for the environment and the communities we work in.
Our ESG focus areas
We continue to develop our ESG ambitions and focus areas both locally and across the Group, supporting our customers in their ESG journey through our services.
Environment
Contributing to a better environment
We help enable a low-carbon and more circular economy, with a focus on the following areas:
- Becoming net zero
- Expanding our green initiatives across the group
- Promoting digital services and hybrid way of working in cooperation both with customers and suppliers
- Encouraging the use of public transport and active travel by employees
Social
Empowering our People and Communities
We empower the people we work with and the communities we work in, with a focus on the following areas:
- Increasing diversity, including number of women at the senior level
- Expanding the Azets4Kids Foundation and other charitable activities
- Developing our Azets culture and values
- Providing high quality careers and opportunities for staff across our communities.
Governance
Responsible business practices
We embed responsible business practices into every part of our operations, with a focus on the following areas:
- Maintaining a responsible supply chain through enhanced due diligence and our Supplier Code of Conduct
- Embedding robust risk and decision management
- Protecting our clients' confidential information through a robust information security programme
ESG 2023-2024 highlights and progress
Contributing to a better environment
FY23 total emissions: 15,530 (tCO2e)
Empowering our People and Communities
Responsible business practices
7 hours
All employees have access to over 7 hours of training materials on Equality & Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing.
New supplier screening
Screening of all new suppliers against environmental and social criteria in Supplier Code of Conduct was implemented in March 2023 in the UK. The screening process extended Group-wide following the UK rollout.
Azets 4 Kids - Our Corporate Social Responsibility
Azets 4 Kids is a cornerstone of Azets Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programme across our regions. The Azets 4 Kids association supports children with the tools and resources they need to create a brighter future for our planet.
Young minds. Big changes.
Children are the sole purpose of Azets 4 Kids, and we take them seriously. Children growing up today are facing the consequences of the world's great climate and environmental challenges, partly created by the generations that came before them. Through various projects and collaborations with non-profit organisations, Azets 4 Kids aim to be part of the change, creating a better future for our children. Azests 4 Kids leads initiatives both big and small - locally and internationally - rooted in three key pillars:
Helping kids | Reducing environmental impact | Enabling more and better education
Spotlight on some of our ESG activities
In December 2022, Azets signed a contract with Normative to collect externally verified carbon emissions and help set net zero targets across Azets Group.
The engagement ensure a complete, detailed coverage across scope 1, 2 and 3 to help identify actionable emissions reductions.
The project continue first half of 2023.
Over the past year, Azets has advised a large number of clients on the impact of EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) through our advisory services, seminars and other customer events.
Nearly 50,000 European companies are expected to be covered by the CSRD, including a large number of our clients.
Azets is committed to supporting our clients on their ESG journey and help them meet the future requirements for sustainability reporting.
Our hearts continue to go out to all those who are suffering through the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
Many of our Romanian colleagues are volunteering their free time to aid Ukrainian refugees seeking shelter in Romania. Their generous efforts enable Azest 4 Kids to show support through donations of food, clothing and other necessities for refugees entering the country.
Azets 4 Kids also support a number of leading charities involved in direct emergency operations in Ukraine.
Azets 4 Kids is joining “Plastic Oceans Europe” (POE) in their important goal of ending plastic pollution. Through annual donations to POE’s great educational programme; “Blue Generations”, Azets 4 Kids supports POE’s mission of raising awareness around plastic pollution and inspiring youth to better preserve our planet.
The Blue Generations programme consists of lectures, beach and river clean-ups, and various workshops for schools in Europe; teaching children aged 5-17 about ocean conservation and conscious consumption.
In 2022, Azets Norway launched a partnership with MoreScope to provide carbon accounting services to our clients.
Morescope is an organisation developed by an interdisciplinary research team at SINTEF, one of Europe’s biggest independent research institutes.
The partnership with Morescope help us help our clients trace their value chain and increase the value of the accounting data we process for our clients.
Honoring the annual UN World Ocean day, Azets 4 Kids invites Azets’ 7000 + employees, partners and clients to mobilise to clean their local surroundings of plastic pollution and waste every June.
Azets Plastic Pick-Up Day is our way of giving back to our communities and reminding ourselves and those around us to be part of the change.
For the planet. For the children.
The launch of our Twelve Days of Christmas charity campaign was created with our purpose in mind.
Throughout the twelve day lead up to Christmas, we were delighted to be able to contribute and support a number of charities, which were close to our colleagues hearts.
We continue our commitment into FY23 to support local charities, nominated by our people.
#TogetherWeAreAzets
We are committed to having a genuinely inclusive culture where everyone can fulfil their potential and be themselves. Our Black Hair Commitment builds on our “Dress for your day” framework, ensuring everyone feels empowered to bring their whole selves to work.
Our emBRace network produced a Black Hair Commitment guide which explains the history of race-based hair discrimination, the actions we can all take to support our colleagues, and formalises our zero-tolerance attitude to race-based hair discrimination.
The Orphanage in Orlat, Romania, holds a special place in Azets History - this was the first-ever charitable initiative in Azets 4 Kids.
Since 2019 Azets 4 Kids has supported the orphanage through donations of clothing, toys and equipment, as well as the organisation of fun and educational activities with the children.
Azets 4 Kids' engagement with the orphanage in Orlat is continuous up until this day.
Christmas can be a challenging season for some. Particularly vulnerable are children who, for various reasons, can't celebrate the holidays as they normally do or would wish to.
Through our annual Azets 4 Kids Christmas Charity Initiative, we wish to spread some Christmas cheer to disadvantaged children across our regions.
Each year we cooperate with various great non-profit organisations, in hopes of making the holiday season a little bit brighter for many.