Liberty Global Corporate Responsibility Report 2011 a About This Report
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Corporate Responsibility Report 2011 Making Responsible Connections Liberty Global Corporate Responsibility Report 2011 A About this report This is our first annual Corporate Responsibility (CR) Report drawing on performance highlights of the calendar year 2011. The report covers all of PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT AND our worldwide operations with four exceptions: Kabel BW and Aster, which CEO MESSAGE were acquired during 2011; AUSTAR, which was sold during 2011; and VTR’s environmental data, which was not available at the time of publication. Numbers in this report are as per December 31, 2011, unless otherwise indicated. Our approach to CR follows the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s definition of corporate social responsibility as “the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic ABOUT LIBERTY GLOBAL development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.” In this report, we explain how CR at Liberty Global has evolved, and describe the journey we have taken. We openly acknowledge that we are undergoing a learning process and we look to our stakeholders to challenge us at every step. We know that we need to fully embed sustainability into the core of our business and we will only get there by setting performance targets to keep CR at the top OUR MATERIAL ISSUES OUR MATERIAL of our agenda. We aim to use the data collected this year as a baseline to set targets in future reports. This report has been shaped by extensive engagement with our stakeholders. It adheres to the international standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3.1 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines at a GRI-checked Level C. We welcome your feedback on our report and our wider approach to CR: [email protected] DIGITAL SOCIETY DIGITAL CUSTOMER TRUST CUSTOMER ENVIRONMENT RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS Cover photo from e-Senior Academy in Poland Liberty Global Corporate Responsibility Report 2011 Table of contents President and CEO message PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT AND CEO MESSAGE Hear from Mike Fries on the 02 Welcome to our corporate highlights of the year. responsibility report About Liberty Global ABOUT LIBERTY GLOBAL Find out about our business, where 04 About us we operate, and how we manage 06 Corporate governance corporate responsibility. Our material issues ISSUES OUR MATERIAL Focusing on the issues that matter most 07 Listening to our stakeholders to our business and to society, and how 08 Our corporate responsibility we develop our approach alongside priorities our stakeholders. 09 Focusing on issues that matter Promoting a digital society 10 SOCIETY DIGITAL Ensuring consumers have access to our 14 Widening access products and services, and that they have 16 Enhancing skills the skills and the opportunities to make 18 Creating opportunities the most of them. 19 Protecting children 21 Measuring our community impact Building trust with our customers 22 TRUST CUSTOMER Giving our customers access to cutting- 24 Data security edge technologies in a way that is secure 25 Customer privacy and on their own terms. 26 Product and service innovation 27 Customer relationships Managing our environmental impact 28 ENVIRONMENT Understanding and improving our 30 Energy use and efficiency environmental impact to be more 33 E-waste energy efficient and manage 34 Greenhouse gas emissions e-waste. Being a responsible business 36 RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS Being honest, open and collaborative in the 38 Being transparent in all that we do ways we engage our people, our suppliers, 39 Our employees governments and civil society. 44 Building partnerships with our suppliers 45 Charitable giving Data and disclosure 49 GRI Content Index 51 GRI data table Liberty Global Corporate Responsibility Report 2011 01 President and CEO message Welcome to our corporate responsibility report PRESIDENT AND CEO MESSAGE ABOUT LIBERTY GLOBAL OUR MATERIAL ISSUES OUR MATERIAL “Our market-leading I am proud to share with you our 2011 Corporate Responsibility (CR) Report. While this report is Liberty Global’s first, CR has been part of our business for broadband internet, many years, and we have many important initiatives underway that we regularly voice and video services communicate through the CR section on our website. empower millions of people to discover and The digital world is a dynamic, fast-changing environment with new technologies coming to market every day. Digital technology has forever changed the way that experience the endless consumers communicate with one another, and are informed and entertained. possibilities of the digital At Liberty Global (LGI), we connect people to the digital world – a world of quality, world, on their own terms convenience and infinite choice. Our market-leading broadband internet, voice and SOCIETY DIGITAL and at their own pace.” video services empower millions of people to discover and experience the endless possibilities of the digital world, on their own terms and at their own pace. MICHAEL T. FRIES, PRESIDENT AND CEO, We are constantly striving to enhance and simplify our customers’ lives through LIBERTy GLOBAL meaningful innovation. For Liberty Global to remain at the forefront in this arena, we have to demonstrate leadership, not only in terms of our products and services, but also in thinking about our responsibilities more broadly. CUSTOMER TRUST CUSTOMER This year, we reassessed the material impacts our business has on society and the environment, working closely with our stakeholders every step of the way. These findings led us to update and simplify our strategic CR Framework (page 9), which underpins our targeted approach, and gives us a solid foundation from which to move forward. We recognize that it is not enough for us just to describe our CR approach; we must demonstrate that it is good both for our business and for society, through robust performance metrics. Therefore, last year we invested in the ENVIRONMENT development of a social and environmental data management system that is tailored to our operations. It has given us the means to build an aggregated baseline of relevant CR information across our footprint – including data on our energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and our community investments. We will continue to build on this tool, and use it to measure and improve our CR performance. RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS Liberty Global Corporate Responsibility Report 2011 02 President and CEO message “Our aim is to further Highlights of the year PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT AND integrate our CR strategy Key achievements in 2011 at LGI include launching a range of CR initiatives to CEO MESSAGE into our business protect children online, and becoming a founding member of the European operations while exploring Union’s “Industry Coalition to make a better and safer internet for children.” We also significantly improved the accuracy and scope of our environmental longer-term opportunities and community investment data, while continuing to implement our e-waste like embedding social refurbishment program, optimize the efficiency of our cable networks, and and environmental make our buildings greener. With our suppliers, we set in motion our attributes into our Responsible Procurement and Supply Chain Principles, and for our employees, ABOUT LIBERTY GLOBAL products and services.” we developed new initiatives to foster leadership and innovation. MICHAEL T. FRIES, In all our activities, honesty and transparency are paramount. We continue to PRESIDENT AND CEO, be listed on the FTSE4Good Index and the European Commission’s Transparency LIBERTy GLOBAL Register. In addition, this report adheres to the international sustainability reporting standards of the Global Reporting Initiative. Although this report speaks to our 2011 achievements, I would like to acknowledge our recent inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America Indexes – as a key indicator that our CR approach is being recognized. ISSUES OUR MATERIAL We can do more to meet our responsibilities as a global business, and as this report shows, 2011 was an important turning point in our CR program. Looking ahead Over the coming years, we face a number of CR-related challenges. We need to build on our materiality approach by focusing on the CR issues most important to our stakeholders. We are committed to improving the accuracy SOCIETY DIGITAL of our data, and developing robust performance targets. Our aim is to further integrate our CR strategy into our business operations, while exploring longer- term opportunities like embedding social and environmental attributes into our products and services. The Executive Management team is excited about the journey ahead as we continue to build on our experience. We encourage your feedback on this report, and our CR approach going forward. TRUST CUSTOMER Michael T. Fries President and CEO November 2012 ENVIRONMENT RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS Liberty Global Corporate Responsibility Report 2011 03 About Liberty Global PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT AND CEO MESSAGE ABOUT LIBERTY GLOBAL About us ISSUES OUR MATERIAL Liberty Global is the leading international cable company with operations in 13 countries. We connect millions of people to the digital world and enable them to discover and experience its endless possibilities. Our vision simply stated is: Connect. Discover. Be Free. Our market-leading television, broadband internet and telephony services are provided through next-generation networks and innovative technology platforms