Strategic report Governance Financial statements Other information RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS TOWARDS HIGHER STANDARDS CONTINUED HL acknowledges the impact it has on the Running and maintaining our IT infrastructure at We recognise that sustainability and ethical environment and climate change, and is our offices and data cetres comprises the mainn behaviour is increasingly important to our clients committed to: source of our environmental impact. This and we provide investment information, research Identifying and assessing environmental supports our award winning platform which is and guides on ethical investing to support our • fundamental to the success of our business. clients, in addition to the inclusion of five aspects to determine those that are The installation of energy-efficient servers, responsible funds in our Wealth Shortlist. significant, as explored in our TCFD report on transitioning to cloud hosted services and a There are more than150 socially responsible page 45; programme of cyclical replacement of hardware investments on the platform (including funds, • Committing to be net zero by at least 2050 and and software reduces our energy usage and cost. ETFs and Investment Trusts). to be carbon neutral across our scope 1, 2 and 3 HL Tech, our Warsaw technology hub, operates in We believe in the transparency of data and business travel and employee commuting a similar way, in a new, environmentally friendly actions towards a climate resilient management emissions by 2025. Find out more on page 48 building, where the impact is also low. of our business. In part, this is to continually plan • Providing all employees with relevant Doing it better for our clients and take action as a business by working with education and information to encourage them Our objective of reducing waste and minimising changing regulatory policy. As such, we have to live and work in an environmentally the environmental impact of our business is been disclosing to the Carbon Disclosure Project responsible manner; aligned with our objectives of protecting client (CDP) since 2018 and have included our first The Environment, Focusing on continual improvements in data, reducing costs and improving efficiency. TCFD in this report, page45. We collaborate with • rating agencies such as Sustainalytics and MSCI, sustainability and environmental performance and activity by We aim to deal with clients and other businesses which helps highlight where we can improve. We climate change means of a proactive colleague Environmental, electronically wherever possible, not only to aim to continue to go the extra mile in this area Sustainability and Climate Change network; speed up information transfer, but also to reduce and increase our participation in forums and Our commitment to sustainability means and the amount of paper we use. industry collaboration. integrating social, ethical and environmental • Aligning the Company strategy to support the We have invested heavily in providing a user- considerations into our operations. Strong delivery of the UNSDGs. friendly, comprehensive website, a mobile app corporate governance ensures sustainable and automated links to banks and fund providers. management and growth with a long term view Our business is fundamentally based on As a result, 90%(as of May 2021) of our clients and a responsibility to manage our wider intellectual capital and conducts the majority of now use our paperless service. environment and social footprint. We have client transactions online and undertakes no Our commitment to sustainability committed to support the delivery of the United industrial activities. Therefore, the direct Where we do send out paper, such as our flagship means integrating social, ethical Nations Sustainable Development Goals environmental and social impacts of our daily magazine The Investment Times, we use (UNSDGs) and finding opportunities within our operations are limited. We are aware that under sustainable resources and minimise our use and environmental considerations businesses to build a cleaner, more resilient and Scope 3 emissions, ourinvestment portfolio is of plastic. The Investment Times is now sent into our operations. inclusive world. the most material source of carbon emissions in recyclable paper envelopes rather than and we are currently reviewing our approach degradable plastic saving the equivalent to this. of 1.4 million plastic bags. 42 Hargreaves Lansdown Report and Financial Statements 2021