I am pleased to present National Grid's on-line corporate responsibility (CR) report for 2008/09.
The turbulent economic climate we are experiencing has put a spotlight on corporate responsibility like never before. Stakeholders are quite rightly concerned that CR will be an early casualty of the recession, as companies around the world look for ‘quick wins’ in their efforts to reduce their costs – to some, CR will seem an easy target.
As I trust you will see from this report – our eighth global on-line CR report – our commitment to operating as a responsible company is unchanged.
At National Grid, tackling issues such as climate change and energy efficiency, making sure we work safely, attracting and retaining the best people and being a positive presence in our local communities, is as critical now as it has ever been.
People and talent
One of my personal priorities is to ensure that National Grid is a place where our people are able to perform and grow to their full potential; even in these times of economic uncertainty, we simply will not compromise on our promise to invest in people. We have introduced new development programmes including inclusion and diversity training for our employees, a first line supervisor’s course and an inclusive leadership training workshop for senior managers to help us attain the high performance culture we are continually striving to achieve.
I am delighted our efforts in this area have been recognised. For the third consecutive year, we were the only energy utility listed in the Times/Aurora Where Women Want to Work TOP 50. We also had a first time listing among Business Week’s Best Places to Intern list in the US, and we were the only energy utility in the Stonewall Top 100 list of lesbian, gay and bisexual friendly companies in the UK. In the US, we scored 100% in the US Human Rights Campaign’s 2008 Corporate Equality Index.
A safe place to work
The safety of our people, including our contractors and the communities we serve, will always be a priority for National Grid. I am pleased to report that this year, on a like-for-like basis, with the safety performance of KeySpan employees included in both years, we have seen a near 11% reduction in employee lost time injuries compared with 2007/08 and an improvement in the injury frequency rate.
During the year, we have targeted such improvements with further impetus on our ‘trusted to work responsibly’ programme, together with a series of safety leadership workshops for directors, senior managers and safety representatives. We have also introduced a health and well-being strategy in the year, helping our workforce to be fit and healthy, which I believe will deliver benefits for employees, the Company and wider society.
The ‘trusted’ campaign was chosen as the winner of the 2008 Campaign of the Year in the UK by the Safety and Health Practitioner/Institution of Occupational Safety and Health awards.
Creating the climate for change
Another area in which I believe we have a long standing reputation is our commitment to the environment. As a company involved in the transmission and distribution of energy, we continue to work with governments and our regulators to ensure that we are part of the solution to the global issue of climate change. Our goal remains the same; an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
This year we have also set an interim target of 45% by 2020 to help measure our progress and during 2009/10, we will implement carbon budgets setting a maximum level of greenhouse emissions per business per financial year. In view of our internal goals, National Grid has taken on a leadership and advocacy role in this and other related areas by working with governments in the UK and US with a focus on expanded utilisation of energy efficiency, climate change legislation, expansion and efficient utilisation of transmission networks in connecting renewables, and renewable gas.
We remain focused on climate change and security of supply, and playing a leading role in addressing the longer term issues facing the energy industry. We continue to work closely with regulators and policy makers to deliver the energy networks of the future.
Supporting our local communities
Investing in the communities we serve is equally as important as the services we provide to them. For me, a major part of this is the established culture of volunteering among our employees. Since 2007, we have made continual progress with Special Olympics Great Britain (SOGB) raising more than £25,000 ($38,500) for SOGB clubs and establishing several employee-led volunteer groups across the business. To date, nearly 500 employees have registered their interest in supporting SOGB. Three hundred of those employees have already participated in at least one volunteering activity, totalling nearly 4,500 volunteer hours. In the US, we have continued our 20 year successful partnership with Junior Achievement, donating more than $1 million (£650,000) to this programme, which educates students about workforce readiness.
We have made good progress in many areas but we are committed to doing better. Our safety and occupational health targets remain zero work related injuries and illnesses and our target of a 45% reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 will be extremely challenging. We must continue to work to make National Grid a place where our people are proud to work and build better and lasting relationships with our customers, our suppliers and with the communities in which we operate.
Finally, I would like to thank our employees across National Grid for achieving our ‘Platinum’ ranking and top-tier status for a seventh consecutive year in the Business in the Community corporate responsibility index and I am immensely proud that National Grid is one of the first companies to achieve the new ‘Platinum Plus’ status.
I would welcome your feedback on our commitment, actions and performance – do please write to me or contact us at csrinfo@ngrid.com .
Steve Holliday
Chief Executive