Code of Ethics
Last updated: 7th September 2023
The Sustainability Group is a company that strives to uphold the highest level of ethical behaviour and practices across all of its operations and expects and anticipates that its partners and suppliers will uphold the same level of ethical conduct.
In all cases, The Sustainability Group strives not only to comply but to exceed in its behaviour all legal and ethical norms in every state and territory where it operates and applies the following principles in everything it does:
1) Fairness: The Sustainability Group will endeavour to be fair and equitable in all of its business and financial affairs. We will always be honest and transparent and expect our partners and suppliers to act accordingly.
2) Individual Responsibility and Accountability: At The Sustainability Group, we value individual responsibility and accountability and allow all of our employees, board members and contractors to work without undue restriction or sanction. We will hold ourselves accountable to the highest ethical and professional standards and measure ourselves against these. We expect all of our employees, board members and contractors to do the same.
3) Environmental Responsibility and Accountability: The Sustainability Group will continually strive to reduce its negative environmental footprint and continuously seek to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases caused by its operations and the operations of its partners and suppliers. The Sustainability Group will also strive to eliminate all non-recyclable or single-use supplies from its operations and supply chain.
4) Compliance with Applicable Laws and Regulations: At all times, The Sustainability Group will comply with and exceed all ethical laws and practices in every territory in which it works. When UK laws on ethical practices (such as the Modern Slavery Act and the Bribery and Corruption Act) exceed those of another territory where The Sustainability Group Operates, we will apply comparable standards to UK laws and practices.
5) Conflicts of Interest: The Sustainability Group operates a register for the declaration of conflict of interests and asks all employees and trustees to declare any interests they might hold in companies associated with, investing in, partnering with or supplying services to The Sustainability Group. The Sustainability Group also expects all partner organisations and suppliers to declare any conflict of interest concerning their organisation, staff or associates they might be aware of.
6) Equity, Equality and Parity: The Sustainability Group seeks to achieve equity and equality in its operations, as it applies to the diversity and inclusion within its workforce and trustees. We will report annually on gender and BIPOC parity in salary and consider diversity and equity in all our employment practices. We also expect all partners of The Sustainability Group to apply the same principles.
7) Financial Reporting: The Sustainability Group operates a policy of financial transparency in all of its operations and expects all of its suppliers and partners to do the same.
8) Reporting Violations and Protection from Retaliation (Whistleblowing): The Sustainability Group maintains a whistleblowing programme for all its staff and associates. This includes both internal and external processes. We pledge never to discriminate against or unfairly penalise any person for reporting a breach or violation of our code of ethics.
9) Social Impact: The Sustainability Group pledges to ensure it has a positive social impact in all of the territories it operates in and to apply our 1% rule across all of our operations. This pledge means we pledge to donate 1% of our product and 1% of staff time to causes or programmes that promote the betterment of the societies in which we operate. We will also prioritise working with partners and suppliers who pledge to do the same.