As we continue to grow as an organisation, the strategic importance of being conscious not only of our markets and our customers but of our environment and communities is more important than ever.
Our Group-wide Sustainability Policy puts the principles of Integrity, Inclusivity, Legacy, Stewardship and Transparency, at the heart of what we do with a commitment in all aspects of our business to manage and continuously improve our environmental and social responsibilities effectively, through all our collective actions.
Sustainability Engagement
Our Sustainability framework is centred on our five sustainability pillars and we understand that in order to meaningfully progress our sustainability agenda we must drive improvement across all pillars. The importance of excellence across all pillars was highlighted as we embarked on engagement with investors, proxy advisors and sustainability rating agencies during 2023.
We are proud to have improved our external sustainability ratings during 2023. We are committed to running our business in a sustainable way and we remain focused on achieving our sustainability goals. Our constant progress in this area is reflected in Uniphar’s rankings by international rating agencies with our MSCI rating being upgraded from AA to AAA this year and our CDP rating of “B” being retained for a second year. To ensure that we can maintain this momentum and support the Company’s growth we have appointed a Group Head of Sustainability who will be responsible for embedding good sustainability practices across the organisation.
Our Sustainability Pillars
Uniphar have identified five strategic pillars that define our approach to sustainability.
The following are those areas deemed most critical for Uniphar and those where we are currently measuring KPIs or intend to do so in the future:
Sustainable Development Goals
Uniphar fully endorses the UN Sustainable Development Goals (“SDG”) and we consider the following goals to be the ones where we can make the most significant contribution:
Sustainability Framework
Sustainability governance and oversight was a key topic for our Board and Executive Leadership Team during 2023. In early 2023, the Board resolved to expand the remit of the Nominations & Governance Committee to include sustainability oversight and the Committee was renamed the Nominations, Governance and Sustainability Committee. The Committee is supported in its work by the Sustainability Council, which has been in place across the business since 2020. In 2024, the Group will be appointing a number of working groups, namely E, S and G working groups across the business to drive the sustainability and environmental agenda and initiatives locally in each division. These working groups together with the newly recruited Head of Sustainability will work together on Uniphar’s sustainability journey in achieving Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive compliance and the Group’s overall sustainability mission.
