Liberty Global has been recognized once again for its commitment to sustainability and corporate responsibility by its inclusion in the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for the eighth year, as well as its ninth consecutive year in the North America Index. Liberty Global’s Belgian subsidiary Telenet also appears in the Index and has been named by Dow Jones as the sector leader.
The Dow Jones Sustainability Index ranks the performance of the world’s leading companies in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria. The indices serve as benchmarks for investors integrating sustainability considerations into their portfolios and provide an engagement platform for companies looking to adopt sustainable best practices.
Liberty Global achieved an overall score of 67 points, a two point increase over last year and placing us in the 97th percentile. This is ahead of an average score of 22 points for companies operating in the media sector. In particular, the company was recognised for its performance in Environment Reporting, where we scored 100% as well as our significant improvements in Operational Eco Efficiency and also in two key areas in the social dimension including Human Rights and Talent Attraction, and Retention.
Mike Fries, CEO, Liberty Global, comments: “Following the challenges brought about the global pandemic, the power of connectivity to deliver positive, meaningful change to people’s lives has never been clearer. Our inclusion in these prestigious indices for the ninth year running attests to our long-standing commitment to the importance of sustainability and ensuring that we are strong corporate citizens as well as responsible stewards of the environment across the markets in which we operate.”
Liberty Global’s Corporate Responsibility (CR) strategy is built around its Connected Purpose framework, developed to empower positive change through technology. The framework is made up of two pillars. The first, Digital Imagination, helps young people develop their digital skills and supports entrepreneurs to develop their ideas that drive social change. Meanwhile, the Responsible Connectivity pillar focuses on operating Liberty’s businesses responsibly and sustainably while delivering outstanding connectivity services.
Liberty Global’s Connected Purpose strategy has led to the company to achieve a number of important CR goals, including avoiding over 11,000 metric tons of carbon emissions and helping over half a million people with disabilities get into and stay in work through Virgin Media’s partnership with the charity Scope.