Annual Report 2017

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104 Rothschild & Co | Annual Report 2017
Corporate Social Responsibility
Rothschild & Co continues to strengthen and improve environmental
compliance and conformance requirements by following the continuous
improvement programme that it implemented during the financial year
ended on 31 March 2017. This includes the minimum conformance
standards to be maintained across all of the Group’s offices.
In 2017, as for the previous year, Rothschild & Co reported environmental
data from 15 office locations: Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Guernsey, Hong
Kong, Johannesburg, London, Madrid, Milan, Mumbai, New York, Paris,
Singapore, Sydney and Zurich. This represents a coverage of approximately
97% of the total coverage by FTE headcount in 2017(1).
Rothschild & Co has again normalised its total environmental impact
against full-time equivalents (“FTE”), enabling a better understanding of
its impact at a staff level.
The specific metrics measured by the Group, for the year ended on
31 December 2017 (compared with the year ended on 31 March 2017)
are waste production, water use, materials use, energy use and greenhouse
gas (“GHG”) emission.
For the financial year ended on 31 December 2017, total waste has
decreased by over 3%. This decrease has been driven by waste reduction
programmes, more efficient waste separation, staff training and more
accurate data collection for some of the offices reporting for the second
time. In addition, the Group is rolling out more widely and over time a
successfully piloted office food waste separation programme.
Total water use has remained fairly consistent this year. Total materials
use has decreased by about 5%, mainly due to the implementation of
programmes to reduce consumption.
Overall energy consumption saw a slight increase of 3%. This is due to a
rise in gas consumption for one office, where staff comfort demands have
caused the building to run less efficiently.
In line with best practice, the Group has elected to produce a “dual report”
for Scope 2 (predominately electricity consumption) GHG emission. This
“dual reporting” uses both location and market-based reporting methods.
The locations-based methodology is the historical way Rothschild & Co has
reported GHG emissions. This method uses energy grid average emission
factors in location specific geographies and over specific timeframes and
allows Rothschild & Co to compare GHG emissions year on year.
The market-based reporting methodology enables the recognition of
conscious choices made in electricity purchases from 100%
renewable energy.
Total GHG emissions have increased by approximately 5%. Whilst this was
in part due to improvements in data collection for some offices reporting
for the second time, it was also a result of increased Scope 3 emissions,
particularly those related to indirect emissions from business travel.
4.1 General Environment Policy
4.1.1 Company policy addressing environmental
issues and steps taken to evaluate performance
or obtain environmental certification
During the financial year ending on 31 March 2017, Rothschild & Co
implemented its Group Environment Policy, defining the Group’s direction
and approach to responsible environmental management. This Policy
is applicable and adopted by all Group entities, branches and divisions.
The Policy emphasises the desire to make a meaningful and positive
environmental difference as a sustainable business that the Group’s
clients can depend upon.
As mentioned in the introduction of Section 4, the Group’s vision is
underpinned by the six most relevant United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (“SDGs”) for the Group to address operational
environmental management. These are(2):
To ensure access to safe water sources and sanitation for all.
To ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and
modern energy for all.
To promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth,
employment and decent work for all.
Taking urgent action to tackle climate change and its impacts.
To ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
To sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt
and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss.
Drawing from these SDGs, Rothschild & Co adapts its operational activities
to continuously improve its approach to environmental management and
address relevant environmental concerns.
(1) For the avoidance of doubt, this does not include the FTE headcount of the Martin Maurel group entities. The economic and legal reorganisation of the two groups following the merger between the two
holdings Rothschild & Co and Compagnie Financière is described in the Management Report on page 51. In the annual report relating to the 2018 financial year, Rothschild & Co will aim to report on 100%
of the Rothschild Martin Maurel sub-group office locations.
(2) Please refer to the following website for more information: