Living our values Sustainability report Contents 04 Introduction Note 06 Our sustainability vision 04 The commentary in this report refers to activity that has taken 07 Perspectives place between April 07 The Scott Trust 2006 and October 2007. 08 Forum for the Future 07 Annualised data falls within the financial year ending March 2007, and 10 Editorial 12 Sustainability reporting all new targets are set for 16 Case studies: travel, motoring, economics 10 20 The world’s leading liberal voice completion by summer 21 Arms trade case study 2008 unless alternative 23 Impact on society 24 Readers’ editors time frames are given. 26 Commercial 27 Sustainability strategy 28 Advertising 26 This report can also be 30 Commercial realities read online at guardian. co.uk/sustainability 32 People and change This document is printed 33 Digital revolution 34 Staff engagement 32 36 Union response on 115gsm and 140gsm 37 Human resources Cyclus Offset 100% 39 Diversity recycled paper 42 Operations 43 Carbon footprint irect D 44 GNM print sites ASA 42 N 45 Offices © 47 Supply chain 2007/ ST U G U A N, 52 Communities CEA O 53 Online communities IC F 54 Community partnerships Paci 52 , ARIA M storm L ICA P 57 Auditor’s statement RO 58 Managing our responsibilities & T A PH O 57 N B OO , TYPH aomai N S 59 Awards OO Editors Jo Confino, Emma Wright Art director Gavin Brammall Production editor Pas Paschali 59 Picture editor Charlotte Maguire Graphics Jenny Ridley Production Joanna Rodell, Darren COVER IMAGE: TYPH IMAGE: COVER Gavigan 3 Introduction In our DNA The mission of the Scott Trust is to secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity. We cannot do this unless we play our own part to secure the natural world in perpetuity ur passion is to make a change and other key sustainability issues positive difference in such as the degradation of natural resources everything we do. It’s in our and the destruction of species. organisational DNA, given There is no point in our owner, the Scott that the Guardian and the Trust, seeking to fulfil its mission “to secure Observer were each created the financial and editorial independence of Oout of a zeal to inform and educate citizens at the Guardian in perpetuity” if we are not times of great social and political upheaval. playing our own part to secure the natural That purpose has remained rock steady for world in perpetuity. That is why we have the last two centuries and is just as important spent the last year building on the successes today as people struggle to understand and of our award-winning corporate responsibility interact with our increasingly complex and programme by developing a sustainability interdependent world. vision and action plan in partnership with The Guardian has always punched above Forum for the Future (see page 8). its weight, having influenced world events We have for many years led the way on during the early part of the last century even reporting the threat posed to the Earth and when its circulation was a mere 50,000, with society by human activity and associated more than half of copies sold within Greater issues of social justice. Now we have Manchester. Our voice today is greatly enshrined this in a formal commitment to amplified thanks to the continuing success of provide our readers and users with the most both our newspapers and the growth of the comprehensive news coverage and debate internet. We now reach more than 7.5 million on these issues in the years ahead (see people in the UK and overseas each week, Sustainability Vision, page 6). which has given us the springboard for our But this alone is not enough: it is important ambition for the Guardian to be the world’s we match this with equal attention to our leading liberal voice (see page 20). own environmental footprint. That is why This is not about vanity but about giving we have set the ambitious target to become citizens around the world the tools with carbon positive — to have a net positive which to challenge and bring to account the impact on the climate each year. We recognise exercise of power. This is a fundamental that this will take some considerable time to integrity. Our readers can smell the whiff of requisite for a fair and open society. achieve. One significant step will be our move hyprocrisy from a long way off. The Scott To make our vision a reality, we are in 2008 into one of the more energy-efficient Trust’s founding mentor CP Scott recognised currently going through one of the most office buildings in London. this almost a century ago when he noted that radical overhauls in our long history. This The journey will throw up many difficult the public “recognises the authentic voices is because our organisation is still largely questions and we are committed to debating of conscience and conviction when it finds designed around producing newspapers, these openly. For example, part of this report them, and it has a shrewd intuition of what to and many past practices are simply no longer addresses the issue of whether we can call accept and what to discount.” This is why our appropriate for delivering news, comment ourselves a sustainable company if we are sustainability vision embraces our editorial, and entertainment to people across the globe a vehicle for advertising, which encourages commercial and operational activities, and day and night. consumption. Walking our talk is not about this report sets out in detail our objectives The scale of the challenge is stretching marketing or PR but about doing what is and achievements to date. our financial and management resources right and ensuring our editorial message has Our approach seems to chime with the and putting pressure on all our staff as we views of our audience. A recent survey adapt to this new complex world. During A recent survey showed that showed that around 90% of Guardian and this period, it would have been easy to have Observer readers and three-quarters of online become fixated by our transition to a fully 90% of our readers believe users believe it is important for us to have a 24/7 operation to the exclusion of all else. But we need to have a strategy strategy to ensure that sustainability issues from a wider perspective, we recognise that are addressed across all parts of the business. our struggles pale in comparison with the to ensure sustainability Furthermore, 97% of our newspaper readers extraordinary challenges posed by climate issues are addressed and 92% of web users say it is important that CORBIS 4 Introduction we are open in the way we make editorial Tim Brooks, managing director decisions and operate as a business. We hope this report goes some way to meeting these This is the fifth year that Guardian News & Media expectations. Limited has published its award-winning audit of For a company that bases its credibility its conduct as a business from a social, ethical and on its independence, it is only right that our environmental perspective. activities are monitored and audited by an I hope you find our 2007 report both interesting external authority. We were the first media and informative. As you will see, our focus has organisation to have an independent social shifted this year to sustainability, given that climate auditor and this will be the fifth consecutive change and associated issues are of such critical year that he has overseen our report. He importance to the future of global society. has encouraged us in our sustainability One of the key pillars of accountability for any journey and, as you will see from this report, company, is to listen and respond to the views of continues to cajole and scold when our its many stakeholders, who in our case range from performance has not been up to scratch. readers and staff to suppliers and our owner, the There is still some way to go, but we hope Scott Trust. that our stakeholders will read this report It would therefore be valuable to get your and feel proud that our values of “honesty, feedback, so that we can continue to improve our cleanness [integrity], courage, fairness and a transparency and public reporting. Please email me sense of duty to the reader and community” at [email protected] remain at the centre of all we do. 5 Introduction Our vision Where we lead… Our vision is to lead the media industry in building a sustainable future for, and together with, all our stakeholders — readers, staff, advertisers and suppliers of our journalism and we will consistently Operational Sustainability vision give a voice to disadvantaged communities around the world most affected by Our ambition is to be environmentally Our vision is to be the leader on sustainability climate change. regenerative. We will investigate how within the media industry and to be we can become climate positive — to go environmentally regenerative in our Commercial beyond carbon neutral and positively affect activities. Through our editorial coverage climate change. and business activities, we will demonstrate GNM’s reputation puts us in a strong Our offices and print sites will be of the to readers, staff, advertisers and suppliers position to benefit from the growing trend in highest environmental standards and we that Guardian News & Media is committed businesses moving toward a more sustainable commit to minimising waste and maximising to enhancing society’s ability to build a future. We will support our large existing both efficiency and recycling.