Corporate Responsibility is critically important to WSP. Not only is the Group an employer of 10,000 people from many different countries and cultures but we also advise, at the highest level, on the impact of our clients’ business decisions on matters of sustainability, energy conservation, waste management and the protection of the environment.
We are implementing a series of policies to ensure our business practices and our staff focus on the issues that we can influence, however our biggest impact will come from the advice we give our clients to improve their own performance in meeting their targets.
Our Vision
WSP’s vision is to be the outstanding supplier of specialist and integrated services in the built and natural environment. Sustainability and how we do business is integrally linked to this vision, and is a core driver of our business strategy and operations.
Our high level vision is based on the five core values of Trust, Sustainability, Innovation, Sharing & Supporting and Pride & Passion. To underpin these values in a fast growing business, we constantly review at a corporate level what sustainability means across our whole global business.
One of our objectives for 2008 is to develop clear sustainability objectives which allow for flexibility of approach across our business, but with the intention of ensuring our entire operations deliver to a minimum corporate standard. These objectives will be in place by Q3 2008 and we will report on our progress next year.
We have examined our activities against potential corporate responsibility impacts and have reported those that we believe are relevant to WSP. We have developed some initial key performance
indicators to measure our performance and will be developing these further during 2008.
Stuart McLachlan, Executive Director of WSP Group plc, and Managing Director of WSP Environment and Energy, reports sustainability and corporate responsibility at Group Board level.
We have an active Corporate Responsibility committee which is tasked with leading on sustainability across the business. The committee is made up of senior global executives and meets on a monthly basis. The remit of the committee extends across the business. Its membership is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure its continued applicability to the business.
Our strategy for Corporate Responsibility is delivered in four distinct ways which are summarised below, and broadly provide the structure for this report:
- Our emergence as one of the world’s leading sustainability consultants;
- The integration of sustainability into the work we undertake for our clients, thereby realising greater potential through sustainable engineering design;
- The direct impacts of doing business, such as our offices and our purchasing; and
- The impact we have with our staff and our interaction with communities with whom we have relationships.