Liberty Global joins the Joint Alliance for CSR (JAC) to promote sustainability in the international telecoms supply chain
Liberty Global has joined the Joint Alliance for CSR (JAC), the international association of telecom operators dedicated to developing and assessing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) standards across the industry’s supply chain.
As a member of JAC, Liberty Global will collaborate alongside the world’s largest telco providers, conducting and sharing CSR audit reports of major Information and Communications Technology (ICT) suppliers. With the aim of promoting sustainable sourcing, JAC members share audit data, resources and best practices to verify, assess and develop sustainable sourcing principles for suppliers of the telco sector.
Martin Simper, Chief Procurement Officer at Liberty Procurement Services, said:
“Every year, Liberty Procurement Services manages the purchasing of over £4 billion in equipment and services from more than 3,200 suppliers around the world. With this comes a responsibility to ensure that we incorporate ethical, environmental and social considerations within our supply chain. Joining JAC is a major milestone for Liberty Procurement Services – we’re taking an active role as leaders in encouraging the telco industry to set best practices in sustainable procurement.”
Molly Bruce, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and ESG Communications, said:
“We value being a transparent and trusted company – and this extends to our supply chain. We are committed to fair and sustainable operations and practices, and we hold our partners and suppliers to the ethos of responsibility that we set for ourselves. Our JAC membership builds on this commitment in the way we source our equipment and procure our services.”
These standards also shape Liberty Procurement Services’ approach to sustainable sourcing for its clients. Liberty Procurement Services provides tailored and sustainable procurement solutions for Liberty Global, its operating companies, and external clients. It also covers the full suite of source-to-contract services, from planning and engagement to contract enablement including category strategy, tendering, selection and supplier relationship management.
The JAC now has 27 major telco members around the world, including AT&T, BT Group, Telefonica, Verizon and Vodafone. Deutsche Telekom, Orange (France Telecom) and Telecom Italia established JAC in 2010 with the goal of defining the audit process and tools that should be used for sustainable procurement practices within the industry. Since then, JAC has expanded its work into areas like Climate Change, Circular Economy, Human Rights and other crucial topics in the sustainability industry.
Since its founding and until end of year 2022, JAC has conducted over 910 audits and surveys in 45 countries around the world. Each member company is responsible, acting on behalf of the others, for leading an on-site audit and development programme for a number of suppliers. The list of suppliers to be audited are pre-identified each year and divided equally among JAC members.
As a member of JAC, Liberty Global will take additional steps towards auditing our supply chain – and prospective suppliers – on CSR-related topics, spanning more than 146 requirements including energy consumption, labour and human rights and the responsible sourcing of minerals. We will also gain access to hundreds of audits that will help us engage with partners on sustainability matters.
Through this collaboration, telco operators have driven improvements in the different layers of the ICT supply chain, through risk mitigation, identifying issues, and promoting universal sustainability standards across the sector.
