Ubisoft 2016 Annual Report Download - page 93

Corporate social responsibility
4
Environmental indicators
The building refurbishments carried out in France and as part of the
“Castle” project in Montreal (see section 4.3.2.1) will contribute to
the fi ght against global warming. These are aimed at reducing CO2
emissions, mainly through using low-emission paint and materials,
hiring local suppliers and replacing the harmful gases used in some
air conditioning systems and which damage the ozone layer.
In addition, Group policy seeks to limit the environmental impact of
business trips, one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Due to the Group’s international scale, employees frequently have
to travel to other sites. Consequently, the Group seeks to optimize
travel wherever possible.
The following measures are favored:
♦
effi cient management of employees’ appointments so that their
travel is limited to the absolute minimum (policy of reducing travel);
♦
choosing the least expensive and most environmentally friendly
means of transport;
♦
videoconferencing (Breeze, Life Size) or conference calls (Skype
Entreprise) and other collaborative systems.
In 2015, the number of business trips totaled 32,024
(1)
representing
a distance of 80,496,000 km (or the equivalent of 17,242 metric
tons of CO2).
(1) Information gathered from non-French sites > 25 employees and French sites, accounting for 97.8% of the Group’s workforce at the end of March 2016
The term “trip” is now defi ned as a single journey, whereas in 2014 it corresponded to an order, comprising return and multiple-destination
journeys. These break down as follows:
Number of trips per year and by type 2015 2014
Plane 22,385 10,539
Train 9,639 4,982
TOTAL 32,024 15,521
Number ofthousands of km covered in trips per year and by type 2015 2014
Plane 77,229 N/A
Train 3,267 N/A
TOTAL 80,496
The increase in the number of trips from the previous year is mainly
due to the revised defi nition of this indicator (see section 4.1.4),
which has been updated to measure the carbon impact associated
with travel more accurately.
The vast majority of sites have a travel policy that encourages
employees to prioritize the most environmentally friendly methods
of transport.
♦
for example, the train is the preferred method of transport
in France and Germany for domestic journeys. In Germany,
Deutsche Bahn guarantees the use of 100% “green” electricity
for members of the “Bahn Corporate” program;
♦ partnerships with green companies have been set up or are in
the pipeline (e.g. in France with Navendis, a cost-effective and
green chauffeur service, or in Montreal with a taxi fi rm that uses
electric vehicles);
♦
cycling is a recommended alternative to motorized transport. In
France, Ubisoft has joined forces with the ADA group under the
brand “Holiday Bikes”, where employees who are traveling on
business can rent a bike to get from the hotel to the Ubisoft offi ce.
Using public transport and carpooling also help to reduce emissions.
For example, Singapore and Kiev encourage employees to use
public transport, while several subsidiaries encourage car sharing
whenever possible, for example by organizing joint travel between
Quebec and Montreal, or shared taxis in Singapore. Optimizing
long-distance journeys is also a factor at several sites, including
EMEA headquarters, which schedules its business meetings to
coincide with international conferences where several hundred
delegates will already be attending.
The Malmö studio in Sweden has a carbon offset scheme for air
travel. This counterbalances unavoidable emissions generated by the
business by funding projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
refl ecting a growing awareness and commitment to take action to
protect the environment.
The use of communication tools also helps to optimize and reduce
travel. Consequently, the Group has made widespread use of web
conferencing by systematically fi tting new workstations with
webcams and microphones. Furthermore, the vast majority of
sites now have rooms equipped with video/audio-conferencing
equipment. In France, new employees are made aware of video-
conferencing facilities during their induction.
- Registration Document 2016 91