Acting ethically, openly and honestly is at the heart of our operations, from measuring our environmental footprint to promoting human rights and health and safety.
To ensure that we continue to meet or exceed industry standards for sustainability, we have put in place dedicated corporate responsibility steering groups that convene every two months to guide the development of our community and environment strategies. Our leadership team approves and acts on recommendations provided by the steering groups.
Looking at our carbon footprint
Last year, EMEIA Financial Services undertook its first-ever carbon footprinting exercise as a Sub-Area within Ernst & Young. The exercise showed that air travel accounts for 54% of our carbon emissions, with an estimated 23,071 tonnes of carbon emissions (the equivalent of 159,704 flights from London to Madrid) released over the past year.
Wherever practical, we intend to cut down on air travel to reduce our carbon emissions.
We are also working to minimize our environmental impact by including sustainability criteria in the design, construction and operation of our buildings, introducing electric vehicles into our fleets and making our events and conferences more environmentally friendly.
We work with organizations such as the United Nations, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the World Economic Forum to engage in the broader corporate responsibility agenda, sharing ideas about how businesses in the financial services industry can help tackle environmental challenges.
For example, we regularly provide pro bono advice on sustainable banking – focusing on areas such as microfinance and social return on investment – to clients in the not-for-profit sector.
Through a rigorous approach to managing our own environmental impact, combined with participation in wider social, economic and environmental debates, we aim to set the standard for ethical and responsible behaviors.
Our story so far
We are continually looking for ways to expand our sustainability initiatives, identify clearer corporate responsibility goals and work out how to meet them. We know that change does not happen overnight, but we are proud of how far we have come on our journey.
Awarded to Ernst & Young- Business in the Community (UK), Corporate Responsibility Index: we achieved a platinum ranking for our ongoing commitment to corporate responsibility. We also received three accolades in Business in the Community's Awards for Excellence.
- NACE Innovation Excellence (Italy), Award for Diversity and Global Initiatives in Recruitment: awarded for our Ernst and Young Italy website and for our initiatives and outreach programs that seek to engage diverse populations.
- Equality Ministry (Spain), Recognition Award: Ernst & Young Spain was the only "Big Four" firm to be recognized for its policies to fight against gender discrimination, promote
work-life balance and support equal opportunities for men and women. - Carbon Trust (UK) Carbon Trust Standard: awarded in recognition of our commitment to reducing our carbon emissions year on year.
- Fleet & Business (Belgium), 2012 Fleet Owner of the Year: we received this award for our support of electric cars. We have electric charging stations for vehicles at 13 offices across EMEIA FS.
- States of Guernsey (Channel Islands) Keep Guernsey Green Award and States of Jersey Eco-Active Business Accreditation: we received these awards in recognition for our commitment to reducing our environmental impact caused by our technologies, goods, services and day-to-day activities.
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51.9 — average number of hours of training completed per employee