Making it real
Our aim at New Zealand Post Group is to operate a business where corporate responsibility underpins all our daily work. Some of the ways we will achieve this are:
Strong governance
Three committees, each led by a member of the Executive Team and reporting directly to the Executive Team, have been established to develop policies, frameworks and action plans, and provide Group-wide leadership in the areas of: Environment, Workplace, and Community. A fourth group with a focus on Marketplace is currently part of the Environment Group.
Transparent reporting
As well as reporting on our corporate responsibility targets and activities in our annual report, in 2009 we reported publicly on our Corporate Responsibility Index score as assessed by the St James Ethics Centre against international benchmarks.
We have also included two non-financial targets in our Statement of Corporate Intent that relate to our corporate responsibility. We will report progress on these to our shareholders along with reporting on our financial progress.
From 2009 we will also be posting our first Communication on Progress on the United Nations website as a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact. In this report, we will be describing the practical actions we have taken in line with the Compact, and the measurement of outcomes.
New Zealand Post Group participates in a large number of key national and international organisations involved in driving sustainability practice and corporate responsibility including:
St James Ethics Centre
The St James Ethics Centre, in Sydney, administers an international survey on corporate responsibility and then ranks companies against international benchmarks. New Zealand Post has publicly reported its participation in the survey.
UN Global Compact
New Zealand Post Group was the first large New Zealand organisation to commit to the United Nations Global Compact – an international benchmark for global business. You can see our Chief Executive’s letter to United Nations Secretary – General Ban Ki-moon and our Chief Executive's endorsement of the UN Caring for Climate Initiative.
International Postal Corporation
IPC represents postal services from the world's major countries and has a strong focus on corporate responsibility and sustainability. New Zealand Post Group is an active participant in the International Postal Corporation Environmental Sustainability Working Group.
Packaging Council
PAC works to implement the principle that packaging's net effect on the environment must be minimises over its full lifecycle.
ACC Partnership Programme
Following a health and safety audit, we were accepted into the ACC Partnership Programme which allows us to manage our own workplace health and safety.
New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development
The Council brings together businesses working toward sustainable development.
Sustainable Business Network
A forum for businesses interested in sustainable business practice in New Zealand, which some of our businesses participate in.