Progressive employer, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), has released its 2018 Sustainability Report revealing impressive work promoting gender equality and also sustainability.
The report reveals a total of 48 investments were made supporting women, young people or people in less-developed regions across the year, plus 1,452 women gained new skills, more than 100 young people were trained and 1,500 local people in more underserved regions received training.
In an engaging social media video, the EBRD delves further into the figures and explains their goals and aims when it comes to building a more sustainable future with opportunities for everyone.
In the video, Marialena Vyzaki, Gender & Economic Inclusion at the EBRD, says "This report provides examples of our work and how we have achieved this impact both internally and externally. In 2018, EBRD's focus on sustainability further anchored our commitment to the green economy. As we continue to nurture our vision for sustainability we look into the future with ever greater optimism."
Green economy transition
Tackling climate change and protecting the environment are key priorities for the EBRD. 36 per cent of its total investments are in green financing. Investing in renewable energy is key to the aims of the EBRD, as is supporting cities to become greener and assisting clients to become more climate resilient.
Focus on gender and inclusion
Improving access to economic opportunities for all socioeconomic groups regardless of their gender, age or disadvantages is a key part of the work done by the EBRD. The results in the report include 284 women entrepreneurs trained, more than 100 Syrian refugees trained, and 209 women-led advisory projects.
The EBRD is committed to promoting equality of opportunity through the support it delivers to its clients, strengthening not only the business growth performance, but also the lives and capabilities of those most disadvantaged in EBRD's countries of operation.
Establishing a sustainability working group
Kerrie Law, Corporate Strategy at the EBRD, says "Our staff formed the Sustainability Working Group to help drive more green engagement throughout the bank. We also wanted to promote the green initiatives of our internal operations team, like those from administrative services and catering, to help replace all the plastic in the canteen with more compostable options. The working group is also in the process of creating a green dashboard to measure and monitor on a monthly basis things like food waste, water, paper and electricity."
Becoming a carbon neutral institution
In July 2018, the EBRD became a carbon neutral institution. The EBRD is now offsetting the greenhouse gas emissions of all its internal operations - from flights to office buildings, to staff traveling to work, to the food supply chain. The overall goal of this initiative is to put the EBRD at the forefront of environmental innovation.
Green Week encourages staff to reduce carbon footprint
Nigina Mirbabaeva, Communications at the EBRD, says "Our Green Week aimed to show our green impact and also promote a sustainable lifestyle. We helped staff to learn their carbon footprint, and also show that implementing green behaviours like recycling, reducing your waste, or avoiding single use plastics is not as difficult as people people might think. During Green Week, recycling doubled to 56 per cent and the majority of our staff now use reusable cups and water bottles. We've also reduced our paper usage by 50 per cent since 2013."
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Disclosure: Where Women Work researches and publishes insightful evidence about how its paid member organizations support women's equality.