Purpose: ARCADIS' Corporate Social Responsibility Policy aims to provide all stakeholders involved with the Company anywhere in the world, including employees, clients, shareholders, suppliers, and those involved with our projects, a clear understanding of our standards for business conduct, and the behaviours we aim to achieve.
Scope: The Policies described herein apply throughout ARCADIS for all directors and employees and govern our approach to all our activities. These Policies may be supplemented by individual operating companies of ARCADIS to address local considerations; however, such amendments will not weaken the substance of the global Policies themselves.
Responsibility: The Executive Board of ARCADIS N.V. has the primary responsibility for ensuring implementation of these Policies. Operating Company Management has the responsibility within their Company to implement and fulfil these policies, as well as to meet the monitoring and reporting requirements associated with these Policies.
The Corporate Social Responsibility policies include:
1. Corporate Governance
2. General Business Principles
3. Health, safety and security
4. Environmental sustainability
5. Employment practices and principles
6. Compliance with local laws and respect for local cultures
7. Customer selection and contracting
8. Community involvement
9. Supplier management
1. Corporate Governance
For many years now ARCADIS has pursued a consistent policy to enhance and improve its corporate governance –including its disclosure practices – in line with best practices. In its two-tier corporate structure, executive management is entrusted to the Executive Board under the supervision of the independent Supervisory Board. Both boards are accountable to the General Meeting of Shareholders for the performance of their functions. ARCADIS considers integrity, transparency, accountability and proper supervision, as key components of good corporate governance. The Company is committed to the principles and best practices of the Dutch Corporate Governance Code. The way in which the Company applies the Code was discussed and accepted by the General Meeting of Shareholders, implying that ARCADIS is in compliance with the Code. All outstanding shares carry voting rights. More information on the Company's corporate governance structure and the way it implements the Dutch Corporate Governance Code can be found on the corporate governance section of our website.
2. ARCADIS' General Business Principles
ARCADIS has developed and endorsed a set of General Business Principles which provide direction for our business decisions and actions throughout the world, at all management levels and apply equally to company actions and to individual behaviour of all our employees in conducting ARCADIS' business. The purpose of these General Business Principles is to further develop and implement our commitment to Integrity, which is one of the core values of the company. Integrity is not one action or belief - it is a culmination of the ethical standards we follow and how we will create and maintain a relationship with one another. It is a fulfilment of our high standards of responsibility to all of our stakeholders with respect to the laws and cultures of the countries in which we operate. We have expressed our principles as a set of commitments and have a stated approach towards ensuring observance. For the full text of the ARCADIS General Business Principles please click here.
3. Health, safety and security
In ARCADIS' General Business Principles, we have committed to providing a healthy, safe and secure work environment for all our employees. To that end, we have a firm-wide health and safety vision and policy in place supported by a global H&S Management System, based upon internationally recognized management system standards, and a proactive and preventative approach, which address the health, safety and security of our personnel. We provide employees the tools to behave in a positive H&S manner and then hold them personally accountable for H&S. H&S is stewarded and led by management. A culture of working healthy, and safely is an integral part of the overall company culture and is reflected in the behavior of our employees. Our goal is to protect our staff from injury and illness. To realize this, health and safety has been given the same priority as our other core values and is an integral part of the solutions we provide to our clients. We have implemented a globally-compatible, systematic approach for the management of health and safety risks throughout the entire company.
For more information about our Health & Safety policy and performance, click here.
4. Environmental sustainability
ARCADIS recognizes the principles of Sustainable Development and acknowledges the challenge of meeting human needs for natural resources, industrial products, energy, food, transportation, shelter and effective waste management while conserving and protecting environmental quality and the natural resource base essential for the future.
Further, ARCADIS supports the UN Global Compact in its objectives and principles with respect to Environmental Stewardship, recognizing that there exists a challenge of meeting the developmental needs of society with environmental stewardship. Further information on the UN Global Compact principles can be found here.
In most cases our clients expect that we provide them information about the environmental considerations of their projects and how adverse effects, if any, can be minimized. In what is likely to be an unusual situation, we may take appropriate action or decline to be associated with a project, if the client is unwilling to support adequate efforts to evaluate the environmental issues or to mitigate environmental problems.
a. Our work on behalf of clients
ARCADIS provides global services in three segments, Environment, Infrastructure and Buildings. Sustainability concepts are routinely considered in our work with Clients, for each of these three segments.
In the Environmental segment, a significant part of our business relates to the efficient and effective clean-up of the historic environmental legacies of our clients, as may be required by the various governmental bodies that direct and oversee this work. Inherently, this work provides a positive net impact on our environment, by mitigating a historic problem, and returning the affected environment to a better condition. In addition, our Environmental segment includes providing our clients with advice and services related to current and future environmental topics including air pollution, water pollution, land pollution, Global Climate Change, and the entire spectrum of services related to efficient energy development, transmission, and use; including significant activities in the area of renewable energy.
In the Infrastructure segment, our practice is focused on the development of transportation systems, land development, and water. Recognizing that there are potential environmental impacts inherent with any type of infrastructure development, our goal is to design and implement these projects to minimize these potential impacts and to be as energy and resource efficient as possible. A significant component of our work involves mass transportation, renewable energy development, efficient roadway designs to replace congested systems, and sustainable land development. Within the water resources practice area, we provide our clients with clean sources of water, we purify water that requires treatment and we manage water within control systems and structures. So, many of our efforts in the infrastructure segment provide a positive impact on the environment. Recognizing the balance between economical development and environmental sustainability, we are committed to providing our clients with information on the potential adverse effects of their projects, and ways to mitigate these potential effects.
In the Buildings segment, our practice is focused on the development and management of a variety of building structures. As with infrastructure, every building project brings the potential for environmental impact, which must be addressed as part of the project development. Each project balances the needs of the client and the demands of the end-use of the project, including energy-efficient, sustainable or "green" components. Recognizing the need to balance economical requirements and environmental sustainability, we are committed to advise our Clients on the environmental consequences of a project, and ways to mitigate these consequences.
In each of these practice segments we routinely incorporate sustainability concepts into our activities to the extent practicable given that there may be counter-balancing project goals and objectives.
b. Environmental sustainability within ARCADIS
Our Internal Sustainability objective is to reduce our "corporate" impact on the environment, through a management commitment to implement a defined sustainability program which we have selected as appropriate for our business. To facilitate this program, we provide our employees with suitable and sufficient information, instruction, and supervision. We further measure and monitor progress against our program goals and report that progress in transparent terms.
Our internal sustainability program is focused on the following components:
• Energy and water usage in our offices/facilities, including space
efficiency and office location selection.
• Paper usage and paper type
• Waste reduction and disposal or recycling
• Transportation, ground and air
• Selection of purchased materials and products
In each of these areas of internal sustainability, we aim to meet the needs of our business while minimizing the environmental impact of our activities.
5. Employment practices and principles
In ARCADIS' General Business Principles, we have committed that we value employees as a key resource. An atmosphere of good employee communication, involvement and responsibility is of central importance, and an employee's personal development and optimum use of talents is encouraged.
Within ARCADIS, every employee has an equal opportunity for personal recognition, advancement, career development and compensation, regardless of personal background or beliefs. The same policy applies to recruitment of employees. No form of discrimination or harassment is tolerated. An important part of this policy is selecting, rewarding and promoting people who demonstrate the ARCADIS values, Integrity, Agility and Entrepreneurship and show individual initiative in combination with a high degree of knowledge and experience of the services, local market and culture. In addition to being an equal opportunity employer, ARCADIS aims to diversify its workforce to reflect the communities in which we operate, within the limitations of the possibilities offered by local labour markets.
The nature of our business is such that we are rarely faced with human rights issues. Nevertheless, we believe that it is our obligation to ensure that in our operations and in the projects that we undertake on behalf of our clients, that those fundamental human rights are respected and guarded.
ARCADIS supports the UN Global Compact in its objectives and principles with respect to Human Rights, and Labour Standards. We will simply not tolerate abuses of these principles with respect to our own company, or our suppliers. Further information can be found here:
http://www.unglobalcompact.org
http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
6. Compliance with local laws and respect for local cultures
In ARCADIS' General Business Principles, we have committed that we will comply with national laws and respect the culture of the countries in which we operate. We endeavour to adjust ourselves to local situations by building strong local companies and to choose a proper approach in coping with dilemmas within the bounds of applicable law and responsible conduct. In this respect ARCADIS supports the principle of open dialogue and cooperation with all relevant parties involved. We support the principle of free enterprise and fair competition as a basis for conducting our business and observe applicable competition laws and regulations. We promote, defend and support our legitimate business interests in the countries in which we operate with due regard to the law and the interests of society.
ARCADIS supports the UN Global Compact in its objectives and principles with respect to Anti-Corruption. We will simply not tolerate abuses of these principles with respect to our own company and our relationship with our suppliers, and subcontractors. More information about the UN Global Compact and related principles can be found here.
7. Customer selection and contracting principles
In ARCADIS' General Business Principles, we have committed that we aim to be a reliable partner for our clients as they pursue their valid business goals and will carry out our services with professional integrity, while not jeopardizing the interests of society, employees and shareholders. In this respect, we will work for clients in a wide range of legitimate practices, as recognized by the local jurisdictions in which they operate, and in conformance with good risk management practices.
We offer our services under contracting terms that do not interfere with our independent professional judgement and objectivity. We are committed to providing business solutions aimed at creating optimal value for clients. We focus on the continuing improvement of our services through sustained investment in our knowledge base and active development of employee competences. Consistent with contractual obligations we will maintain the confidentiality of information from the client that is obtained in the process of performing our services, unless so ordered to disclose such information by a court of appropriate jurisdiction. We will also keep confidential the documents and reports prepared for a client unless otherwise agreed. We will be transparent to clients about any potential conflicts of interest that could emerge during the execution of our services.
ARCADIS recognizes that we have a place in the Global community, in terms of providing support for certain programs to address societal needs. As such, ARCADIS will sponsor certain community involvement projects on a regular basis. The funding of these programs will include direct ARCADIS funding and possibly funding from one or more of the ARCADIS Shareholder-based Foundations. The annual funding level will not be fixed, and will depend on market conditions, as well as program needs.
ARCADIS companies will make charitable contributions only in accordance with applicable laws, including disclosure requirements. Such contributions will not be used as subterfuge for bribery. Local management will review the amount and timing of any charitable contributions to ensure that they are not used as a subterfuge for bribery.
Employees will be encouraged to further donate to support our corporate funding initiatives, and may further take a leave-of-absence (in accordance with our local-country human resources practices) to engage in community involvement activities, should they so desire.
9. Supplier management principles
We regard our primary suppliers as our partners and work with them to help us achieve our policy aspirations in the delivery of our products and services. In addition, we will select our subcontractors on the basis of their conformance with our own Policies, in addition to selection criteria such as quality and price.
A link to the UN Global Compact and the Environmental, Human Rights, Labour Standards and Anti-Corruption Principles that are referenced herein, is provided below:
http://www.unglobalcompact.org
http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
