Our Operational Impact

Minimizing our operational impact is a prerequisite of sound environmental policy and a necessary complement to our core business activities.

Corporate and Workplace Solutions (CWS) takes seriously its operational impact on both the environment and the communities in which we live and work. Focusing on the firm’s corporate footprint, we aim to minimize our operational impact, recognizing that it is a prerequisite of a sound environmental policy and a necessary complement to our core business activities. In all that we do, we strive to find smart, sustainable solutions that make business sense and are environmentally and socially responsible.

Our CWS, Engineering, Office of Corporate Engagement, and Sustainable Finance Group teams work in close collaboration to address our key operational priorities from all angles.

We have a dedicated green operational investment budget, which brings greater focus to initiatives that reduce our environmental impacts and enables us to invest in green buildings and innovative green technologies.

The Environmental Policy Framework articulates our commitment to advancing the environmental stewardship of our corporate operations. Download Highlights of our 2020 operational goals or the latest of our new 2025 ESG Commitments.

Read our statement on a safe and healthy workplace.

Operational Impact Dimensions

Carbon, Energy and Business Travel

We have achieved our carbon neutrality commitment and our goal of sourcing 100% renewable power for our global electricity needs by year-end 2020 (99.1% is market-matched according to criteria from RE100). Additionally, we surpassed our 2020 goal of reducing our absolute energy use by 10% and achieved a reduction of 27% across our operationally-controlled facilities off of our 2013 baseline. 

Learn more

Green Buildings and Certified Management

We are committed to targeting 100% LEED Gold or equivalent building certification for new construction and to certifying 100% of our operational controlled spaces to the ISO 14001 standard. As a result of our consistent use of green building standards, approximately 71% of our global office space portfolio (over 7.4 million sq. ft.) has now achieved LEED or BREEAM certification against our 2020 commitment of targeting 70%; 100% of our on-site events and facilities are certified to the ISO 20121 and ISO 14001 standards, respectively. 

Learn more

Resource Conservation

Waste
We continue responsible resource consumption and waste management, to re-iterate our commitment to send zero business waste to landfill, where practical going forward. 

Water
We greatly surpassed our commitment to achieve a 5% water use reduction target by year-end 2020 and hit a 23% reduction; we remain committed to identifying opportunities to reduce our water consumption, especially as our operations return back to normal. This includes setting a goal to reduce our water use intensity by 15% (gal / occupied seat) from our 2017 baseline for our operationally-controlled offices.

Learn more

Supply Chain

We continue to further our strategy to build our sustainable supply chain. We are focused on responsible and inclusive sourcing practices as well as ensuring our vendors meet the ESG standards; by 2025, we will assess 100% of our global vendors for ESG risk. To add, we are also focused on increasing our spend with diverse vendors globally by 50% from our 2020 baseline. 

Learn more

Transparency and Engagement

Our efforts to effectively manage our environmental impacts are strengthened by cross-sector partnerships, which demonstrate our commitment to climate resiliency and transparency.

Learn more