Building trust through ESG accountability and transparency

At CGI, we believe that: “What gets measured, and the related results made visible, gets done.” Accountability and transparency are integral to the way we build trust with our three stakeholders: our clients, members* and shareholders.

In terms of our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy, we are committed to measuring and making visible our progress, particularly with regard to our three priorities: climate, people and communities. We recently launched our ESG report for fiscal year 2022 to provide transparency into our progress, and I’m pleased to share some highlights in this blog, including the top KPIs and example activities from the report.

Climate: Reducing our carbon footprint and accelerating sustainability

We are committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, and our fiscal 2022 CO₂e emissions reflect a 65% reduction compared to the 2014 baseline. We continue to target 100% renewable electricity use in all our data centers by 2023 and our KPI for fiscal 2022 is 76.1%.

CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalents) is a unit that makes it possible to compare the climate effects of different types of greenhouse gases by expressing the emissions as equivalent to carbon dioxide.

In this year’s report, we describe how we also strive to reduce our own negative impacts on biodiversity and nature and create IT solutions for these purposes. As examples, we help clients prevent biodiversity loss by using AI to better identify invasive plants, and to avoid ship-whale collisions using Earth observation data and machine learning.

Additionally, we seek to use technology responsibly in our own operations and client partnerships, pursuing sustainable IT to minimize the environmental impacts of IT manufacturing, use, management and disposal. (I also invite you to read more about our solutions that help clients advance their sustainability agendas.)

People: Fostering diversity and digital inclusion

We are committed to driving positive cultural change by increasing diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in our workforce. Our DE&I strategy is foundational to our growth and success. It provides a framework for cooperation that empowers our members to show up as their complete, authentic selves at work.

• Our target: Achieve the same level of diversity representation at the leadership levels as the company as a whole by 2025.
• F22 progress: 27.5% women in leadership and 33.3% women strategic business unit (SBU) presidents, 34.2% women members overall.

We know that a constantly changing digital world can be a factor in creating new inequalities. As a global leader in digital services, we are committed to fostering digital inclusion. We act locally to improve access to technology and business education and mentoring to help ensure that all individuals can benefit from the digital world and fully participate in our society. We also seek to equip more young people and adults with the skills they need for successful IT careers.

• Our target: Raise the number of participants in our educational programs to twice the number of CGI members by 2023.
• F22 progress: ~502,000 people benefitted from our STEM and educational programs, representing 5.6 X our current member number (90,250).

Communities: Promoting member awareness and engagement

Education and empowerment are equally crucial for our members to be able to speak and act on ESG-related issues. We provide training and programs to raise awareness, encourage engagement and ensure all are aligned to advance our board-driven ESG mandate.

We support our members’ engagement and use of IT and business expertise through investment in social impact projects and local economic growth initiatives, and by actively supporting local pro bono engagements.

• Our target: 100% of business units implementing pro bono projects by 2026.
• F22 progress: 58% of business units implemented pro bono projects (representing 45,019 volunteer hours and 1,229,417 beneficiaries).

This past year, we continued to roll out CGI for Good, our global digital volunteering tool. This tool gives our members access to a wide range of in-person and remote volunteering opportunities with local non-profit and charitable organizations. It also empowers them to create their own opportunities in response to the needs of the communities where they live and work. (Read more about CGI for Good in my previous blog.)

Governance: Ensuring ethical operations, including in our supply chain

Around the globe, our operations are guided by a unifying CGI Management Foundation that specifies rigorous corporate governance standards and frameworks to guide our business practices and stakeholder relationships — all in line with the highest ethical principles.

We are committed to deploying our digital services and solutions responsibly and to adhering to best-practice privacy and data protection standards. This includes accelerating how we assess the ESG commitments of our key suppliers, including the full respect for human rights in our supply chain and in our operations around the world. All new suppliers (with few exceptions) must answer a questionnaire on their ESG practices. Additionally, our procurement policy mandates that all types of third-party engagements align with our standards, while our Code of Ethics promotes adherence to the highest standards of ethical business conduct.

• Our target: 70% of our significant suppliers assessed by EcoVadis on their own ESG, by 2025.
• F22 progress: 58% of our significant suppliers were evaluated by EcoVadis, up 14% vs. 2021.

EcoVadis platinum rating

In recognition of our ongoing implementation and integration of measurable and traceable initiatives in the categories of environment, labor and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement practices, CGI achieved a platinum rating from EcoVadis for Sustainability Performance, placing us in the top 1% of companies in the computer programming, consultancy and related activities industry category. I’ll close this blog by sharing a quote from our CEO George Schindler:

“Our commitment to sustainability is rooted in our core values and in our partnership with clients to help them advance their own sustainability initiatives while we collectively work to improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of the communities where we all live and work.”

Please read our 2022 ESG report to learn more about how we continue to accelerate progress on our ESG commitments.

*We call our consultants and professionals members as a majority of them are also owners of CGI.