Corporate social responsibility
PA's core values and code of ethics drive the way we behave with our clients and each other. We concentrate on a number of areas to reinforce PA's reputation as a firm with the highest standards of conduct. Recent milestones achieved in 2008 included:
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the award by The Times (London) to PA for our workplace diversity and culture of inclusion – The Times also ranked PA in its top 50 ‘Where women want to work' survey.
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PA's membership of the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest corporate citizenship and sustainability initiative. As a Compact member, PA has committed to ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anticorruption.
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PA's allocation of 1% of pretax, postbonus profit to our ‘Giving back and volunteering' initiatives – an annual commitment.
Sustainability
As part of our objective to reduce impacts on the environment, PA is working towards external validation of our carbon emissions, and to implement steps to make all our business activities more sustainable. Our environmental performance data was examined in detail to calculate our 2008 footprint at 12,477 tonnes of CO2, and this data allows us to focus on priority areas for improvement.
As a company that firmly embraces innovation, PA is implementing multiple solutions to address energy consumption in our office buildings and business. Technological systems will be integrated into a bespoke design solution to minimise energy consumption while also generating clean energy on-site. The first location to benefit is our own Cambridge Technology Centre, in Melbourn, UK. Overall, we set targets to significantly reduce our emissions during 2009, using a number of initiatives including tighter control of heating, cooling and lighting in workspaces; travel and transportation controls; and global employee awareness campaigns. We are also working to achieve the Carbon Trust Standard for the UK in 2010.
PA became an active member of the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in 2009 and is serving on several committees working on such subjects as sustainable urban places and energy efficiency. WBCSD is the world's leading business organisation dedicated to sustainable solutions.
Leading the agenda in sustainability and corporate responsibility
Against the backdrop of the financial crisis and its effects on the global economy, corporate responsibility and sustainability are firmly at the top of the agenda for business and government.
PA is in the marketplace every day demonstrating our corporate commitment to environmental and social objectives. We do this through our sustainable tourism business in the Caribbean and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)/Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) regions, our energy efficiency work in the US and worldwide, and our work in low-carbon technologies in the UK and Europe.
Our Viewpoint journal dedicated to sustainability issues and solutions demonstrates our expertise and leading client track record in this area, exploring issues and solutions such as greenhouse gas management and emission control, aligning environmental and business strategies, improving risk management, optimising strategic planning and increasing innovation.
PA's clients also realise benefits from our long-established capabilities in areas such as lean production, green IT, sustainable tourism, energy efficiency and measuring environmental performance. Business leaders now accept there is a clear correlation between sustainable business performance – including strong corporate social responsibility policies – and financial performance. Our clients come to PA to draw on our capabilities and experience in delivering these best-in-class business solutions.
To find out more about how PA makes a difference in social responsibility and sustainability, please contact us now.
