BT 2008 Annual Report Download - page 32

We have had ISO 9001 (the international quality management
system standard) certification for our operations in the UK and
much of the rest of the world since 1994.
During 2008, our CSR strategy prioritised three areas where
BT can make the most difference: climate change, social
inclusion and sustainable economic growth.
Recognition of our contribution to society
In July 2007, BT won Business in the Community’s prestigious
Company of the Year award for our positive impact on society.
The award goes to the company judged to be improving its
business and its overall impact on society, in the marketplace,
the workplace, the environment and the community, through
leadership and integration of responsible business practices.
During 2008, BT was ranked as the top telecommunications
company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the seventh
year in a row. The Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes rank
companies for their success in managing social, ethical and
environmental issues for competitive advantage. We were
reaccredited with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in
recognition of our contribution to sustainable development. In
2008, we retained our Platinum Banding for companies scoring
over 95% on Business in the Community’s Corporate
Responsibility Index. We were the top scorer in all but three of
the 79 impact areas. And the Association of Chartered Certified
Accountants (ACCA) named BT as the winner of its best
sustainability report award 2007.
Being a responsible business
CSR touches every part of our business – from the way we
interact with our customers, suppliers and partners, look after
our people, give back to communities and support charities,
right through to our practical concern for the environment. We
commit a minimum of 1% of our UK pre-tax profits (in cash and
in kind) to activities which support society. We provided a total
of £22.3 million designed to benefit society in 2008, of which
£2.5 million was in charitable donations.
Our community investment strategy aims to help individuals
and communities make a better world through improved
communications skills and technology. Our BT Better World
campaign aims to ensure that young people have the
communication skills they need. Over three million young people
benefit from BT’s educational resources every year.
ChildLine, a UK charity, receives calls from 4,500 children
every day but lack of funds means that many hundreds go
unanswered. We are working with ChildLine on a campaign to
ensure that every child’s call for help is answered. In 2008, BT
and BT employees raised £650,000 for ChildLine.
BT volunteers and call centre employees take donations as
part of major charity telephone and online appeals, including
Children in Need, Sport Relief and Comic Relief, helping to raise
millions of pounds each year. We also manage the telephone
networks and provide equipment for these events. And we help
the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) respond to
international disasters.
In 2007, we launched our first global development
partnership with UNICEF to develop community projects to bring
education, ICT (information and communications technology)
and communications skills to disadvantaged children. BT is
investing £1.5 million over three years and this will be added to
by fundraising activities by BT people around the world. Projects
were launched in South Africa in 2007, and in Brazil in April
2008. China is scheduled for 2009. More than £140,000 has
already been raised to support the projects in South Africa
where, with BT’s support, UNICEF has built or renovated
classrooms at 25 of the country’s most impoverished schools, as
well as providing ICT training for teachers. Around 18,000
children have benefited. The two-year initiative in Brazil aims to
reach more than 10,000 disadvantaged young people in ten
schools in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Salvador
and Fortaleza. By making communications skills and technology
available in this way, we are enabling young people to tackle
issues that affect them, their schools and their communities.
In June 2007, we announced a three-year partnership with
the British Red Cross in support of disaster relief worldwide. We
are the first global communications services company ever to
partner with the British Red Cross in this way. We are investing
£100,000 a year to provide essential satellite, IT and GPS
equipment. By funding a three-year programme, BT and the
British Red Cross can ensure that the relevant equipment is in
place so that relief can be deployed anywhere in the world as
quickly as possible. This partnership builds on our current
support for disaster relief through DEC and is a natural extension
of our own emergency response and civil resilience activities.
Protecting the environment
Reducing waste
We recognise that we have a responsibility to the environment
and we continue actively to manage our waste reduction and
recycling. During 2008, we received an income of £6.7 million
from our recycling activities, offset against the £7.3 million we
spent managing our waste contracts, recycling our waste and
sending waste to landfill. We recycled 46% of our waste in 2008
and aim to increase this to more than 50% next year. We also
aim to reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill by 6% in
2009.
Combating climate change
Ten months’ work by a CBI task force – chaired by Ben
Verwaayen and including 18 chairmen and CEOs from some of
the UK’s largest companies – resulted in the publication of a
report, Climate change – everyone’s business, in November
2007. The report concluded that all businesses have a
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community investment in 2008
£22.3m
Waste (UK only)
Tonnes 2008 2007 2006 2005
% recycled 46% 42% 42% 34%
Total waste 79,759 94,928 102,005 110,622
Total waste recycled 39,937 40,007 42,340 37,421
BT Group plc Annual Report & Form 20-F 31
Report of the Directors Business