Ashley Truscott
Senior Manager Global Sustainability
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Our dream is to inspire, educate and lead an unstoppable movement for sustainable business practice in our markets and in our organisation.
In 2021, the BDO Sustainability Movement was launched. Through this, we encourage everyone in the BDO community to join and learn more about how they can personally embrace sustainability practices as an individual, as a BDO professional and as an adviser to our clients. This initiative is endorsed by Keith Farlinger, Global CEO, with the support and active participation of the Global Leadership Team.
We recognise that employee engagement is key to our success on this journey. Our employees want to see BDO ‘doing the right thing’ and feel proud. As we move forward on this journey, we will continue to aspire to have a positive impact on our people, our communities and our environment and the sustainability movement will continue to evolve as a key element of our WHY: People helping people to achieve their dreams.
“Transforming our businesses to meet the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and social inequality will be one of the greatest challenges of our time. At BDO, we have committed to doing our part in rethinking our business, in addition to supporting our clients on their sustainability journey.”
Trond-Morten Lindberg
Global Chief Strategy and Operations Officer
Why sustainability matters at BDO
We believe businesses have an economic imperative and an ethical responsibility to do what they can to ensure a thriving, sustainable and equitable world.
We want to be a global organisation that plays its part in addressing the challenges facing people and our planet - without adding to them. We will be judged as a responsible business through our environmental, social and governance impact: a business that uses its influence to inspire, educate and lead an unstoppable movement for sustainable business practice in our markets.
If we get it right, we continue to have the licence to operate and the permission to succeed.
If we get it wrong, if we fail to take action where needed, we jeopardise employee retention and our relationships with clients, businesses and local communities.
We also risk damage to our brand and reputation - with consequences for our future growth ambitions. And, of course, we may inadvertently do harm to the environment or communities around us – because how we behave as a business is inevitably linked to the societal and environmental impact we have.
Our ESG Framework
In today’s world, the actions of organisations are deeply intertwined with environmental, social and governance concerns. Excelling in these three dimensions is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but has become ‘table stakes’. The adoption of ESG programmes is integral to maintaining and creating sustainable organisational value and impact.
Environment
Environmental factors address an organisation’s environmental impact and environmental stewardship. This dimension is focused on improving the environmental performance of an organisation.
The standard United Nations (UN) World Commission on Environment & Development defines ‘environmental sustainability’ as about "acting in a way that ensures future generations have the natural resources available to live an equal, if not better, way of life as current generations."
Topics include:
The definition has been expanded over the years to include perspectives on human needs and well-being, including non-economic variables, such as education and health, clean air and water, and the protection of natural beauty.
For BDO, our environmental objectives include complying with all the relevant jurisdictional laws and regulations and seeking to minimise our environmental impact and improving our environmental stewardship.
This can include:
Further reading: ESG and the business care for dealing with climate change.
Social
Social factors refer to how an organisation manages relationships with and creates value for stakeholders and its impact on employees, customers and the community.
This dimension is broad-ranging and diverse and includes:
Embracing diversity and equality is an integral part of the BDO culture and this is reflected in our WHY. We also celebrate International Women's Day annually.
Our people are core to our business and we strive to create an inclusive, diverse and empathetic culture – both inside and outside BDO. We make a concerted effort to ensure all our employees feel safe, valued and free to be their most authentic selves.
Our firms aim to provide a flexible working environment and to ensure that their people are offered the same opportunities to develop their talent, maximise their potential and achieve their goals.
From an external perspective, our community activities are closely linked to our WHY:
People helping people.
Our WHY shapes how we help our people and communities succeed. BDO firms across the world are active in community engagement, inspiring us daily with their WHY stories.
Governance
Governance factors refer to an organisation’s leadership and management philosophy, practices, policies, internal controls and shareholder rights.
This includes:
Ashley Truscott