Whitbread publishes its latest ESG report
UK’s largest hotel business continues to deliver against the objectives of its Force for Good sustainability programme
Whitbread, the UK’s largest hotel business, has published its latest Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report as part of its commitment to delivering its ambitious Force for Good sustainability programme.
The 56-page report for the 2021/22 financial year shares Whitbread’s progress delivering the objectives of its Force for Good programme and how the company is working to do business in a responsible way.
During the year Whitbread set new stretching sustainability targets and received accolades from respected stakeholders for its work on diversity and inclusion. Highlights from the year include:
- Accelerating the company’s net zero carbon target from 2050 to 2040 and committing to the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) for achieving it;
- Pledging to tackle the carbon emissions in Whitbread’s supply chain (scope 3 targets) by 50% by 2035 and 64% by 2050;
- Being awarded a Stonewall Gold award for commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace
- Achieving RSPO Chain of Custody certification for sustainable palm oil – we are the first pub or hotel group to have this certification;
- Reaching the fundraising target of £20 million for Great Ormond Street Hospital, Whitbread’s charity partner.
Other achievements during the year included placing 24th out of 750 companies across Europe in the Financial Times’ Diversity Index award and making good progress realising the company’s goal of achieving 40% female representation in leadership positions by the end of 2023.
Commenting on the launch of the report, Rosana Elias, Head of Sustainability said
“We are pleased to have moved our Force for Good programme forward this year, in what has been a challenging year for our team members and the business as the impact of Covid has continued to be felt. There have been many highlights and successes, from committing to ambitious new carbon targets, reaching our fundraising target with our charity partner and receiving external recognition for our work in Diversity and Inclusion. However, we know there is a lot more to do and we’re looking forward to driving forward our sustainability agenda in the coming year”.
Whitbread’s Force for Good sustainability programme is focused on delivering meaningful change across three key pillars of work – ‘opportunity’, ‘community’, ‘responsibility’ – which cover the company’s impact on people, local communities and the environment respectively. In the 2021/22 ESG report, these three pillars have been aligned against the widely recognised ESG framework.
The full 2021/22 ESG report is available for download at https://www.whitbread.co.uk/sustainability/
