Sustainability Policy

The Audiotonix Group and its Board of Directors recognise the importance of sustainable governance. In addition to complying with all relevant legislation, regulations, and codes of practice, we are committed to fostering long-term solutions that minimise the impact of our business activities and contribute positively to the local and global communities we serve.

Purpose

The purpose of this Sustainability Policy is to reinforce our organisational commitment to addressing Environmental, Social and Governance practices within Audiotonix and through the products and services we deliver. This document outlines what Audiotonix will do to identify our environmental impact, what we will adapt to reduce our impact, and the responsibilities of its team members.

Scope

This policy applies to employees and contractors, both full-time and part-time. The policy will be shared with customers, suppliers, stakeholders and interested parties, wherever appropriate, to indicate our commitment to environmental action.

Action

Audiotonix is committed to reducing the impact on the environment from our operations and the use of our products. We will address this through the following areas of work:

Staff engagement

We will promote responsibility for sustainability within the organisation and communicate and implement this policy at all levels of our teams. We commit to ensuring key members of staff have the time necessary to embed this work into our operations and provide further resources where possible and necessary.

We will encourage and support staff to set up forums as working groups for those with a personal or professional interest in the area.

We will support team engagement by considering how we promote positive, action-led messaging about work on measuring our impact on the environment and provide opportunities for them to promote change and to have a positive impact on climate behavior. We will provide space for staff to discuss this issue, including their own concerns and worries about environmental breakdown, through any wider wellbeing programs in place.

The senior management team of Audiotonix will:

Share its expectation of responsibility for ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) to employees, board members and stakeholders
Demonstrate clear commitment to sustainability and lead by example, to ensure that the protection of the environment is promoted to all employees
Support team wellbeing and work to combat pessimism by committing to driving action in the organisation and setting a positive example

The employees of Audiotonix will:

Be familiar with all the environmental requirements relevant to their role and responsibilities, including exploring the carbon footprint/environmental impact of specific areas of work
Take responsibility for their own impact on the environment while in the workplace/working from home, sharing ideas with other staff members on how to reduce personal impact
To promote sustainable practices within the community and engage in local environmental initiatives
To work with our customers and users to understand how we may reduce the impact of our products
To reduce the carbon emissions and environmental impact of all our products wherever practical
To promote sustainable practices within the community and engage in local environmental initiatives
To advocate sustainability within the industry, participating in collaborations and sharing best practices to drive broader positive change
The dedicated Audiotonix Sustainability Specialist will champion and co-ordinate all sustainability activities within Audiotonix

The Operations Board will:

Recognise that climate change is a strategic and systemic risk and will develop policies to manage the impact of global climate change
Empower senior management and the wider staff team to actively pursue and implement decarbonisation strategies across the business

Goals

The sustainability of our products and services is important for the people, places, and communities we work with.

In line with our values, we will assess the environmental impacts of our operations and set objectives and targets annually to reduce our carbon emissions. We will review these targets annually. This work will include:

Promote and encourage green travel choices from employees – Cycle to Work scheme, public transport, use of trains and car sharing
Calculate our carbon emissions for Green House Gas (GHG) Scope 1, 2 & 3
Employee education and training to maximise engagement
Have consistent and coherent data to measure carbon emissions
Monitor energy and aim to reduce consumption in all properties
Use renewable energy sources, where possible
Self-generate electricity, where possible
Monitor water and reduce consumption in all businesses
Use technology to reduce the need to travel for meetings
Review our waste and educate employees about effective recycling
Communicate with the communities we work within regarding climate change and the need for sustainability
Comply with all relevant environmental legislation and regulations, while keeping abreast of emerging ESG legislation

Governance

The Board has overall responsibility for Audiotonix and its strategy. We are committed to exploring, on an annual basis, the impact climate breakdown will have or is having on the landscape we work within. This work will be led by an Operation Board member and should include, but is not limited to:

Reporting our progress at every Operations and main board meeting. This reporting will include discussion on decarbonisation progress; where there is opportunity to collaborate and support wider climate action, and how to embed climate actions in our strategy, business planning and organisational goals
Discussing resources and budget required to progress a decarbonisation strategy
Support a statement in our annual ESG report outlining the discussions we have had around sustainability and any action we have taken, alongside our aims and goals for the following business year
Considering the risk of lack of action on sustainability to staff retention/recruitment and exploring how we can improve in this space
Discuss future legislation on ESG and the actions required to comply

Product Development

Audiotonix follows the approach to minimise impact on the environment from the decisions that are taken during the design, development, and life cycle management of its products, and thereby improve the Group’s environmental credentials with its users, customers, employees, and other stakeholders. By following this approach, Audiotonix R&D teams will integrate eco-design principles alongside traditional product requirements such as cost and performance.

The embodiment of these principles is conveyed in the Eco Design Strategy guidelines. The aim is to further improve Audiotonix’s environmental performance through good, constantly improving, environmentally conscious design decisions across R&D and the development process.