Minimising and managing key environmental impacts are fundamental to good environmental stewardship and are core to acting as a responsible investor/business. Compliance with the appropriate regulatory framework is an essential requirement, and we expect all our portfolio companies to have the appropriate monitoring systems in place to ensure they meet all current regulatory requirements.
Beyond meeting compliance requirements, we believe there are numerous opportunities to deliver commercial value through ongoing improvements to environmental management, specifically focusing on resource efficiency and energy management.
The focus and breadth of issues will be shaped by individual companies and would be expected, in most cases, to address the following operational impact areas:
- Energy - manage and minimise energy usage (considering buildings, fleet and travel);
- Waste - follow the waste management hierarchy: 1) prevention 2) reuse 3) recycle then 4) disposal (with disposal to landfill being the least preferred option); and
- Water - manage and minimise water usage.
FRA - extensive use of technology to reduce travel
FRA, the forensic accounting and data governance consultancy, has rapidly transitioned to new ways of working, using technology to reduce its reliance on travel. Leveraging the skills and experience from more than 20 years of working on many of the world’s most complex investigations, it has been able to maintain the highest level of security in this changing environment whilst reducing the need to be physically present at international sites.
FRA has worked with partners and clients to ensure data can continue to be managed safely, even in the context of the highly technical and complex data landscape often faced in financial crime and sanctions investigations. Using portals and data transfer protocols that maximise cyber-security and encryption, the team efficiently gathers data from diverse technologies, ranging from databases to robotics, utilised by financial services companies.
The consultancy is also creatively leveraging tools such as video to ensure that the data acquired during investigations is properly downloaded; encrypted files are then transferred to FRA’s own systems and stored securely. Specialist technology teams deploy artificial intelligence and machine learning whilst working remotely with clients to ensure forensic standards are maintained. They deliver market leading insights on millions of terabytes of data at breakneck speed.
* Source: Dunedin ESG audits, 2019