The Responsible Business Summit Europe More information: events.ethicalcorp.com/rbs

Join 400+ attendees to learn how to build trust & purpose for business. Speaking will be the likes of; Telefonica O2, Patagonia, Unilever, Nespresso,Oxfam, M&S, Heathrow Airport and many more.”Sustainability in Europe – Top trends 2016

@ethical_corp @ethical_corp #RBSEU

The Responsible Business Summit Europe More information: events.ethicalcorp.com/rbs

Join 400+ attendees to learn how to build trust & purpose for business. Speaking will be the likes of; Telefonica O2, Patagonia, Unilever, Nespresso,Oxfam, M&S, Heathrow Airport and many more.”

25+ sessions

55+ speakers

2+ daysof insight & networking

Introduction

As part of our annual State of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report, we reached out to our community to get an understanding of the top trends and issues for 2016. This mini-report highlights some key findings from our community based in Europe.

SOME KEY FINDINGS

Sustainability gets CEO buy-in: 69% of executives polled said their CEO is convinced of the value of sustainability.

COP21 delivered what was needed? Divisive issue: Just 53% of our respondents felt COP21 delivered the agreement needed to address climate change risk. When asked to give commentary on COP21, many respondents stated it creates the impetus for both businesses and industries to change their behaviours.

CSR is driving revenues: 55% executives polled stated that sustainability is driving revenue for their business.

Corporate responsibility and sustainability gaining importance: 85% of respondents stated that CSR is becoming an increasingly important part of business strategy. To support this move, nearly 50% of respondents stated that they report to their CEO or Board. This gives an indication that CSR is integral to mainstream business strategy.

CSR as a source of competitive advantage: 21% of our respondents indicated sustainability as a source of competitive advantage as the single most exciting opportunity for their organisation in 2016.

12

34

5Liam Dowd

Managing Director

@liamdowd10

@ethical_corp #RBSEU

Setting the scene

829 European respondents (41% of the total)

Between December 2015 and January 2016, Ethical Corporation surveyed its global community to identify the key issues, opportunities and trends in corporate responsibility and sustainability. More information on the State of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability 2016 report can be found here.

This snapshot report presents the answers, ideas, opinions and insights of the 829 European respondents (41% of the total).

Q: Which of the following best describes where you work?

Q: Which of the following best describes the level of your role?

Academic

Corporate / brand

Corporate / brand – agency / service provider / consultant

Government

NGO

Other (please specify)*

*Majority of the respondents that replied ‘Other’ stated; media or Association.

10%

38%37%

3%9%

3%

Board level / business owner

Consultant

CSO / director / VP

Executive

Manager

Other

Professor

Researcher

16%

8%

16%

12%31%

5%6%

6%

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The level to which sustainability is part of the business strategy varies considerably from company to company.

Q: Is CSR becoming an increasingly important part of your business strategy?

Interestingly sustainability is becoming more important to business strategy in Asia Pacific, than Europe and North America. However, this chart does not indicate the level to which sustainability is already part of mainstream business. This will be tracked and analysed with more clarity in 2017’s snapshot reports.

Q: Who does the ‘sustainability team’ ultimately report to?

*Majority of the respondents that replied ‘Other’ stated; Academic Dean,

University President, Owner, EHS, President

29% of respondents report to the board, and 27% report to the CEO. With over half of respondents therefore reporting to members high and central to their organisation, it indicates that corporate responsibility and sustainability has a seat at the, and is important to business strategy.

Importance of CSR

Just under

1/3of all respondents report to their CEO

NORTH AMERICA EUROPE ASIA PACIFIC

10%

90%

YESNO

15%

85%

YESNO

12%

88%

YESNO

Board

CEO

Head / Chief of Sustainability

Head of Marketing / Communications

Other

29%

18%27%

8%

18%

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Allocation of finances to CSR

How much money an organisation devotes to sustainable and responsible initiatives gives a true indication of how seriously they take these issues.

Q: What budget does your company have for CSR activity? (in USD) Q: Will your budget for CSR increase in 2016?

Unsurprisingly, very few organisations represented here have a budget in excess of $1 million: only 5% gave this answer, providing an interesting point of comparison to the US and Asia reports, wherein 9% of respondents stated a budget exceeding $1 million. One quarter of respondents stated low budgets i.e. less than $10,000, which may be a result of the wide range of organisations taking part.

1/4 of respondents stated low budgets, less than $10,000

0 10 20 30 40

$0 - $10,000

$1,000,001 - $2,500,000

$10,001 - $25,000

$100,001 - $500,000

$25,001 - $50,000

$50,001 - $100,000

$500,001 - $1,000,000

MORE THAN $2,500,001

WOULD NOT LIKE TO SAY

25%

2%

5%

8%

7%

6%

4%

3%

40%

42%

32%

26%

I would not like to say

No

Yes

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There is increasing feeling that sustainability is now becoming a core component of mainstream business. Understanding which department strategies it should be impacting helps give an indication of where it sits in mainstream strategy and where developments will first occur.

Q: Sustainability should be involved in setting the strategy for...

93% of respondents agreed that sustainability should be involved in setting supply chain strategy. This could be a reflection of recent laws and corporate cases around supply chain risk mitigation. In fact, respondents believed strongly in the integration of sustainability across the board.

The full State of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability 2016 outlines the similarities and nuances between the different global regions.

Central to business strategy

93% of respondents agreed that sustainability should be involved in setting supply chain strategy

STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE NEUTRAL AGREE STRONGLY AGREE

Marketing and communications

Supply and procurement

Human Resources

R&D

2% 2%

2% 1%

2% 2%

2% 1%

50% 36%

4% 33% 60%

16% 46% 34%

12% 37% 48%

@ethical_corp #RBSEU

The Responsible Business Summit Europe More information: events.ethicalcorp.com/rbs

Join 400+ attendees to learn how to build trust & purpose for business. Speaking will be the likes of; Telefonica O2, Patagonia, Unilever, Nespresso,Oxfam, M&S, Heathrow Airport and many more.”

25+ sessions

55+ speakers

2+ daysof insight & networking

Was COP21 a success?

In December 2015, global leaders met in Paris and negotiated the Paris Agreement, a global agreement on the reduction of climate change. We asked our respondents whether they felt it was enough.

Q: In your opinion, did COP21 deliver the agreement needed to address climate change risk?

When asked how COP21 will impact their role, there were a considerable number of responses stating that it wouldn’t affect their work. On the positive side, a lot of respondents reiterated the need for all businesses to start acting responsibly and also, to agree a carbon pricing model.

53%47%Yes

No

47% of respondents felt COP21 delivered the agreement needed to tackle climate change risk

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A source of revenue

Corporate responsibility and sustainability is the right thing to do, but organisations still struggle to shift their business strategy due to worries that it will negatively affect revenues. The following question ascertains as to whether there is a business benefit to acting responsibly.

Q: Does sustainability drive revenue for your business?

Encouragingly 55% of our respondents stated that CSR is delivering revenue for their organisation. Even more encouraging is this represents a 9% increase on this exact same question from the 2015 State of Sustainability (http://1.ethicalcorp.com/LP=7533) report. Any business department needs to be able to report on whether it’s delivering revenue. The fact that 23% of respondents don’t know if sustainability is in fact driving revenue shows there is considerable work to be done around tracking and measuring CSR initiatives.

55%

22%

23%Yes

No

I don’t know

55% of respondents stated that CSR is delivering revenue for their organisation

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On the back of COP21 and the UN’s SDG Summit there are exciting opportunities abound in the world of responsible business.

Q: Which one area holds the single most exciting opportunity for your organisation in 2016?

Continuing the theme of CSR being a source of revenue, 21% of our respondents cited sustainability as a source of competitive advantage as being the most exciting opportunity for 2016. Internal changes are the next two most exciting opportunities. Our European community stated embedding sustainability (14%) and sustainable innovation (14%) as equally exciting opportunities for 2016.

These findings represent a small proportion of analysis and insight from the State of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability 2016. With over 50 graphs and analysis broken down into region, business type and industry the 2016 report gives a thorough indication of how responsible business is progressing across the globe.

Looking ahead

Big data in sustainability ........................................................................................... 4%

Cross-industry collaboration .....................................................................................9%

Culture of sustainability ............................................................................................13%

Customer behaviour change .....................................................................................7%

Embedding sustainability ........................................................................................ 14%

Impact assessments .....................................................................................................5%

Resource savings ..........................................................................................................5%

Supplier partnerships ..................................................................................................8%

Sustainability as a source of competitive advantage ......................................21%

Sustainable innovation ............................................................................................. 14%

4%

13%

9%

7%

14%

5%5%8%

14%

21%

21% of our respondents cited sustainability as a source of competitive advantage as being the most exciting opportunity for 2016

@ethical_corp #RBSEUROPE

Estelle Brachlianoff Senior Executive Vice-President, UK & Ireland

Jean-Marc Duvoisin CEO

Bas van AbelCEO

Paul Donovan CEO

Jane Griffiths Company Group Chairman

John Holland-Kaye CEO

Hear from these sustainability leaders:

#RBSEU

SDGS – HOW BUSINESS CAN DELIVER: Redevelop your strategy and identify the required capabilities and relationships

INFLUENCE CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR: Engage all departments to deliver a positive change in customer behaviours

MANAGE BUSINESS RISK: Promote a responsible culture and mitigate risk throughout the value chain

PARTNER SUCCESSFULLY: Identify opportunities to add real value to brand and reputation

Become a trusted business. Deliver positive impact.

The 15th Annual Responsible Business Summit 20167-8 June 2016 | London

Europe’s leading forum on responsible business