Communication on Progress

Participant
Published
  • 05-Oct-2021
Time period
  • April 2020  –  March 2021
Format
  • Stand alone document – Basic COP Template
Differentiation Level
  • This COP qualifies for the Global Compact Active level
Self-assessment
  • Includes a CEO statement of continued support for the UN Global Compact and its ten principles
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Human Rights
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Labour
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Environment
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Anti-Corruption
  • Includes a measurement of outcomes
 
  • Statement of continued support by the Chief Executive Officer
  • Statement of the company's chief executive (CEO or equivalent) expressing continued support for the Global Compact and renewing the company's ongoing commitment to the initiative and its principles.

  • Continued support for the Global Compact
    Euromonitor International became a signatory to the UN Global Compact in 2012 and we are pleased to
    submit our eighth Communication on Progress affirming our visible commitment to supporting the ten
    United Nations Global Compact principles, along with our continued drive to align with the UN Nations
    Sustainable Development Goals.
    We are committed to conducting our business in a sustainable, ethical, and responsible manner, ensuring
    that the impact on the communities with which we have dealings is positive and that all who supply
    goods or services to Euromonitor show integrity and respect for international human rights and the
    environment. It is our belief that responsible business practices are essential to long term sustainable
    success and must be reflected in our workplace.
    On behalf of Euromonitor’s Chief Executive, Board of Directors and employees around the world, I
    am delighted to present this report which we will be sharing with all our stakeholders over the coming
    months.

Human Rights
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of human rights for the company (i.e. human rights risk-assessment). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on Human Rights.

  • Commitment
    Euromonitor International supports and respects the protection of internationally proclaimed human
    rights. The scope is broad but includes:
    ƒ Non-discrimination against, and behaviour towards, vulnerable groups
    ƒ Civil and political rights
    ƒ Economic, social and cultural rights
    ƒ Fundamental principles and rights at work
    We recognise there are global differences in accepted practices with regards to standards in safe working
    environments, child protection and other aspects of human rights. However, we ensure we work to the
    highest standards across all regions rather than just meeting local requirements.
    We are committed to the well-being of our employees, in-country analysts and contractors, creating safe,
    positive and professional work places.

  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions to implement Human Rights policies, address Human Rights risks and respond to Human Rights violations.

  • Implementation
    We have extensive global policies regarding equal opportunities, flexible working, parental leave, work-life
    balance and anti-harassment and bullying amongst others. All employees are briefed at induction and every
    policy is available on the company’s intranet.
    Euromonitor requires all suppliers to comply with the full requirements of the Ethical Trading Initiative
    Base Code (ETI Base Code). In addition to compliance with the provisions of the ETI Base Code, we are
    committed to ensuring that modern slavery does not take place anywhere in our business or in any of our
    supply chains. Modern slavery may take various forms, such as slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory
    labour and human trafficking and is a crime and a violation of human rights, which exploits a person for
    personal or commercial gain. In accordance with our Modern Slavery Statement, found on our website, we
    are committed to tackling modern slavery throughout our business.
    We believe that an important part of upholding and promoting human rights is the commitment a
    business makes to its local communities. From April 2017 we have committed 1% of our turnover to our
    corporate social responsibility spend, an amount which equated to roughly £1.55 million in 2020-2021. As
    signatories of the UN Global Compact we have chosen to align a major part of our community investment
    programme with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and carefully measure how each of our charity
    partnerships contribute to the success of the goals.
    In 2020/2021 we partnered with Justice & Care through our Headline Partnership programme. With our
    support the organisation is funding victim navigators and setting up a head office in Romania to enable
    safe return for victims of trafficking and to reduce the risk of re-trafficking.

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates performance.

  • Measurement
    Management of Euromonitor offices is regularly reviewed by the Leadership Board to ensure all policies
    are being implemented correctly. Euromonitor is compliant with all legal employment requirements
    in every respect, and in many cases, exceeds minimum requirements. In the past year Euromonitor
    International has not been subject to any investigations, legal cases or incidents involving human rights.
    In 2019 we completed a SMETA Audit as part of our membership of SEDEX (Supplier Ethical Data
    Exchange) and are now fully compliant. We are also EcoVadis certified.

Labour
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of labour rights for the company (i.e. labour rights-related risks and opportunities). Description of written policies, public commitments and company goals on labour rights.

  • Commitment
    Euromonitor International hires, promotes, develops and compensates employees based on unbiased
    criteria and without regard to age, gender, disability, marital status, race, national origin, religion or sexual
    orientation or any other legally protected characteristics or status. Our Suppliers are also expected to
    recruit, employ and promote employees on the sole basis of the qualification and abilities needed for the
    work to be performed.
    Euromonitor International promotes a positive in-house health and safety culture through regular
    health and safety checks and employee training. Suppliers shall provide a safe and hygienic
    environment for its workers.
    Euromonitor International complies fully with all aspects of labour law in all countries in which
    it operates. Where our standards exceed those of local legislation, we apply our own policies.

  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions taken by the company to implement labour policies, address labour risks and respond to labour violations.

  • Implementation
    Euromonitor International has written policies that clearly state employee rights and responsibilities and
    their compensation and benefits. It is company policy to ensure that decisions concerning hiring, wages,
    promotion, training, discipline, retirement and termination are based only on unbiased criteria, and are
    not linked to any discriminatory characteristics. Staff members are encouraged to share any matters of
    concern with us without fear, in the knowledge that they will be taken seriously and that the matters will
    be investigated properly. The procedure for raising such concerns is outlined in our Whistleblowing Policy
    which is freely available to all staff via the company intranet.
    In a number of our offices we are subsidising pay to the lowest paid external agency cleaners to make sure
    that nobody who works for us is earning less than a “living”, not a “minimum” wage.
    We remain a member of Sedex (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange) sharing information with our clients on
    four key areas: labour standards, health & safety, the environment and business ethics. As part of our Sedex
    membership we continue to ensure staff are aware of the Ethical Trading Initiative and that we are always
    upholding its 9 key areas.
    In the last year we have partnered again with Micro Rainbow International: our donation is being used to
    provide an employment training programme for members of the LGBTI community in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
    The aim of the programme is to help members of the LGBTI community counter discrimination and low
    economic status through professional advancement and in many cases the opportunity of self-employment.
    Through our Headline and Regional Partners programme we are funding several projects which directly
    support beneficiaries to combat discrimination and enter employment.
    ƒ Body and Soul in London supports through community-based healing children, young adults and
    families who have suffered trauma and discrimination
    ƒ Brave Space Alliance is a centre providing support to the LGBTQ+ community in Chicago. It is also
    black-led and trans-led and first of its kind in its area.
    ƒ Casa Central in Chicago USA is delivering an early learning academy programme to propel its
    beneficiaries towards a higher quality of life.
    ƒ Empowering Women in the Atlas in Morocco run a women’s cooperative providing seed funding
    for start-up rural businesses.
    ƒ Humanity and Inclusion are running a programme in Burkina Faso focusing on increasing the
    number of children with disabilities and refugee children enrolled in school
    ƒ Micro Rainbow International based in London is supporting the LGBTQ+ community by providing
    safe temporary housing to those in need (including asylum seekers and refugees), providing
    employability support and focusing on social inclusion. Our funding is providing employment
    training programmes for members of the LGBTI community in Brazil.
    ƒ Jaya Mental Health (formerly Unity in Health)works on improving access to mental health services
    and supporting the social inclusion of those affected by mental illness in Nepal and Sri Lanka

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates performance.

  • Measurement
    Euromonitor International’s hr team reviews the company’s responsibilities towards labour rights in
    relation to compliance with national and international law. We continue to monitor all health and safety
    incidents, recruitment statistics and sickness records to ensure compliance with our policies.
    The cr Manager works with all community partners to evaluate the impact of our support. Reports
    are published on the Corporate Social Responsibility blog on our global website.

Environment
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of environmental protection for the company (i.e. environmental risks and opportunities). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on environmental protection.

  • Commitment
    Good environmental practice is important in ensuring that we, and our suppliers, operate responsible and
    sustainable businesses, which reduce their negative impact on the environment as much as practicable
    and comply with all applicable environmental laws, regulations and standards.
    Although Euromonitor International’s direct impact on the environment is relatively small we are keen to
    ensure continued commitment to our internal policies and controls. We take our responsibility in supporting
    initiatives that prevent and manage environmental risk very seriously.
    Specifically, we are committed to:
    ƒ Conserve natural resources and reduce the environmental burden of waste generation
    ƒ Become single use plastic free across all our offices
    ƒ Reduce the consumption of energy through building assessment and control, and by encouraging
    employee awareness, individual action and proactive involvement
    ƒ Reduce the level of air travel and balance the impact of unavoidable flights
    ƒ Uses cleaning and stationery products where possible and green energy suppliers

  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions to implement environmental policies, address environmental risks and respond to environmental incidents.

  • Implementation
    Staff engagement continues to be key to our work around environmental responsibility. Each year the
    company hosts a global Green Week that is organised by local CSR Committees in each office. A key focus
    is becoming as far as possible plastic-free. We are actively encouraging our offices to stop using plastics,
    not just recycling plastic that has been used. Actions have included:
    ƒ Providing new starters with reusable water bottles
    ƒ Purchasing crockery and cutlery for all offices
    ƒ Removing plastic stirrers and straws from kitchens
    ƒ Introducing refillable metal soap containers in bathrooms
    Energy reduction is a key element of our environmental management programme, with a focus on
    employee behaviour and building efficiency. We continue to balance the impact of carbon emissions
    associated with all company flights and our energy consumption in all our offices with our Carbon
    Offsetting partners, The World Land Trust and Save the Orangutan. Despite having limited data available
    this year due to Covid, we decided to make a larger than usual annual donation to help them make up for
    the loss of income from flights not taken and energy not used in closed offices.

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates environmental performance.

  • Measurement
    Euromonitor International’s Leadership Team is committed to reducing our environmental impact. The
    CSR Manager, working with the Director of Operations and Office Managers has day to day responsibility
    for our environmental programmes and activities.
    We work with Measure My Energy Ltd to analyse and better understand our Heating Ventilation and Air
    Conditioning (HVAC) consumption under the ESOS (Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme).
    Euromonitor International uses licensed waste companies for disposal of waste and recycling as well
    as approved carbon balanced programmes through the World Land Trust and Save the Orangutan for
    our energy use and flights. Reports are regularly reviewed to ensure our systems are effective with the
    majority of refuse produced being recycled.
    Euromonitor International has not been involved in any environmental incidents, nor has it been the
    subject of any investigations or legal proceedings by any regulating authority.

Anti-Corruption
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of anti-corruption for the company (i.e. anti-corruption risk-assessment). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on anti-corruption.

  • Commitment
    As a world leader in our field, Euromonitor International recognises that we have a duty to set the very
    highest standards for ethical business practice. Employees of Euromonitor International are made
    aware that bribery, corruption and extortion in any form is not tolerated within our company under any
    circumstances.

  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions to implement anti-corruption policies, address anti-corruption risks and respond to incidents.

  • Commitment
    As a world leader in our field, Euromonitor International recognises that we have a duty to set the very
    highest standards for ethical business practice. Employees of Euromonitor International are made
    aware that bribery, corruption and extortion in any form is not tolerated within our company under any
    circumstances.
    Our Legal Contracts Manager, Carla-Simone Kennedy, oversees
    all contract queries including MSA’s, negotiations, internal
    templates and contract claims/disputes for Sales and the wider
    business.
    Peter Vine, our Data Protection Manager oversees and monitors
    compliance with applicable data protection legislation throughout
    the organisation, ensures that Euromonitor meets the standards
    set by, among other regulations, the General Data Protection
    Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act.

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates anti-corruption performance.

  • Measurement
    All new staff members are issued with a copy of the Anti-bribery
    and Corruption Policy and asked to sign an acknowledgement slips, all acknowledgements are kept in the
    employee’s file by HR.
    Any suspicions, concerns or queries are reported in the first instance to the Operations Director and
    subsequently shared with the CR Manager for the purpose of monitoring and identifying any areas
    where additional support or training may be required.
    During the last 12 months Euromonitor International has not been involved in any legal cases, rulings
    or other events related to bribery, corruption or extortion.