FINN Partners was founded on the belief that we would be purpose driven in our work and to help create a positive enduring impact in the world. In helping clients achieve those goals, we must ourselves be committed to creating that positive social impact in our own operations.
As part of that commitment, FINN Partners is a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact (UNCG). We are committed to operating our business in a manner consistent with these principles. We are also benchmarking ourselves on our environmental, social and governance practices through a third-party evaluation process (Ecovadis).
Environmental Sustainability is critical to our business and our core values. As a global full-service communications and marketing agency, Finn is committed to minimizing potentially adverse environmental impacts from our operations.
Like most professional services firms our environmental impacts including climate impacts are primarily generated from the GHG emissions from energy used to heat and cool our offices, business travel, the purchase of good and services used in our supply chain, water usage and wastewater generation, and disposal of materials.
With 33 offices across the globe, developing uniform operating practices in all areas of our operations presents a challenge. Our commitment, however, is to create a culture of continuous improvement. Consistent with that guiding principle we will incorporate common sense risk management into our decision making around climate and other environmental issues and adhere to and exceed all applicable regulatory requirements in each of the jurisdiction in which we operate. In addition, we commit to the following best practices to minimize our environmental footprint:
Office Space: We do not own any of the space in which we operate and therefore have limited control over the energy source or energy efficiency of the building. However, when choosing new office space, FINN will prioritize buildings that are LEED or IWBI certified, and has asked each office head to make sure we use electricity from low or zero carbon energy sources. We have also asked each office head to install motion sensing light controls and participate in water and electricity reduction. In addition, we will also look at the IWBI Equity rating for guidance in our space and our operating practices.
Office Operations: We are looking at multiple efforts to reduce our environmental impact from our office operations:
- We have adopted a flexible work schedule in our offices to reduce the climate impacts of daily employee travel to commute to and from work. With a hybrid work approach, we are also reexamining workspace needs in the office and will reduce square footage per employee where feasible on lease renewal.
- We seek to minimize waste disposal to landfills by including recycling in all offices where recycling is available in the community.
- To reduce waste generation, printing is discouraged. If printing is necessary, 2-sided printing is encouraged, and offices are encouraged to use only recycled paper for printers and copiers.
- We encourage the use of reusable plates and silverware. Where single use items are used, use of recyclable or compostable materials is required OR
- FINN has switched from disposable petroleum plastic cutlery and hot and cold cups to reusable branded glasses and mugs as well as washable plates and flatware.
- For events that use disposables, we will only use compostable cups, plates, and cutlery made of bamboo, sugarcane, or other renewable sources.
- Absent public health concerns, use of plastic bottles is strongly discouraged. If used, they should be recycled.
- FINN has asked each office head to switch to either an on-demand bean grinding system, or to biodegradable coffee pods and discontinued the use of K-cups.
- Our IT Department will work with each office to ensure proper collection of all electronic waste and recycling or proper disposal.
Travel: To reduce the carbon impacts of travel, our policy for business travel is to minimize travel to the maximum extent possible. We have established certain guidelines for travel to implement this policy including:
- First preference is to consider if video conferencing is suitable.
- All travel must be approved by a managing partner whether billable or non-billable travel.
- Where feasible car or rail travel is preferred over air travel.
- Where air travel is necessary, coach air travel will be utilized unless otherwise specifically approved.
- Utilize “green hotels” where feasible.
Going forward, as we seek to benchmark our progress internally and through Ecovadis, we will be evaluating our data and identifying any data gaps that need to be addressed to enable us to measure our impacts and track our efforts towards continual improvement.